Firdaus Obiremi
Eight members of the Zamfara State House of Assembly who recently left the All Progressives Congress are set to return to the ruling party following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
The lawmakers were led to the meeting by the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, according to a statement issued on Monday by Ahmad Dan-Wudil, a media aide to the former Zamfara State governor.
Dan-Wudil said the legislators reaffirmed their loyalty to the APC and their commitment to Tinubu during the meeting.
He added that Matawalle had pledged to integrate them into the Tinubu Again Movement to mobilise support for the President and other APC candidates ahead of the forthcoming elections.
“Following the meeting, Minister Matawalle pledged to integrate the lawmakers into the Tinubu Again Movement, to work collectively for President Tinubu and all APC candidates ahead of the forthcoming elections,” the statement read.
The development comes weeks after the lawmakers reportedly left the APC, citing worsening insecurity in Zamfara, alleged injustice and the non-payment of their salaries and allowances.
The legislators are Aliyu Kagara, representing Talata Mafara South; Ibrahim Bakura, representing Bakura; Faruk Dosara, representing Maradun I; and Bashir Masama, representing Bukkuyum North.
Others are Muktaru Kaura, representing Kaura North; Nasiru Abdullahi, representing Maru North; Bashar Bello, representing Bungudu West; and Bashar Aliyu, representing Gummi I.
Their planned return to the APC follows the intervention by Matawalle, who served as governor of Zamfara State before joining the Federal Government as Minister of State for Defence.
However, the political development is unfolding against the backdrop of an existing dispute between the lawmakers and the leadership of the state assembly.
The Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Bilyaminu Moriki, had said the lawmakers were suspended from the legislature before their reported defection from the APC.
Moriki said the assembly suspended them on February 26, 2024, over allegations of gross misconduct, conspiracy, mischief, contempt of the House and convening an illegal sitting in violation of the assembly’s standing orders.
The allegations and the circumstances surrounding the lawmakers’ suspension were not further addressed in Dan-Wudil’s statement on their meeting with Tinubu.
It also remained unclear from the statement whether the lawmakers had formally completed the process of rejoining the APC or whether any steps had been taken to resolve their suspension from the assembly.
The development is expected to draw further attention to the political alignments in Zamfara as parties and their supporters prepare for forthcoming elections.
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