Romanus Ugwu,Abuja
Former governor of Zamfara State, Abdullaziz Yari, has dismissed as baseless and empty, the petitions filed against him by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) 2019 governorship candidate, Sani Shinkafi.
Shinkafi, had in the petitions sent to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Abubakar Adamu, with copies sent to the Vice President, Service Chiefs, Director-General Department of State Services (DSS) and National Security Adviser, demanded the arrest of Yari over alleged threat to peace in Zamfara State.
In the petitions filled along with video evidence, Shikafi raised the alarm over fresh possible breach of peace in the state, warning that the state is still reeling over the N2.8 billion paid as ransom by the former governor and over 6,483 widows whose husbands perished during the reign of Yari.
However, responding to the allegation, Yari dismissed them as “empty” vowing to drag Shinkafi, whom he described as PDP apologist, to court.
He declared that rather than seek his arrest, the IGP should invite and question Shinkafi for being in possession of classified document meant only for the commander-in-chief and the service chiefs.
Fielding questions from newsmen when he led APC delegation from Zamfara to the party’s headquarters to lodge complaints about intimidate and persecution by the PDP administration in the state, he declared that only justice can restore peace in Zamfara State
“The allegations, I can tell you are empty because unfortunately, he called himself a citizen of Zamfara State who contested severally without producing a councilor; he cannot produce a councilor. He cannot even be a councilor, let alone becoming governor.
“We are going to take him to court, or instead of the IGP to ask for me, he (IGP) is supposed to ask him where he got those classified documents. Those documents are classified documents. I am challenging him because I am not the commander-in-chief; my role as per section 301,302 of the constitution is very clear on what I am able to do as a governor.
“No governor in Nigeria has overall control of the state because he does not command any troops; he cannot hire of fire any constable. Therefore, if he complains that so, so number of people died, so, so number of houses burnt, who is in charge of security? It is the president because he is the commander-in-chief,” he said.
He also said that the documents were put together to let the president and his service chiefs appreciate what the state was facing at the time but regretted that persons he said lack understanding of what governance entails had disclosed it to the public.