Former Zamfara State lawmaker, Senator Kabiru Marafa, says President Bola Tinubu has saved Nigeria’s democracy by not interfering in the judgements of the Supreme Court on the 2023 governorship election.
Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central at the National Assembly from 2011 to 2019, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
The former lawmaker, who was Zamfara Coordinator, Presidential Campaign Council for President Bola Tinubu for the 2023 general election, said that Tinubu and the justices of the apex court had lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.
“Posterity will judge them well for allowing the will of the Nigerian voters to prevail.
“It is a welcome development. Tinubu, by this singular action of non-interference in the Supreme Court judgement, has saved the country’s democracy and forestalled the repeat of the 1983 scenario.
“You will recall that it was after the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) grabbed states that were hitherto of the opposition that the Second Republic collapsed,” he said.
Marafa also applauded the justices of the Supreme Court, saying they had lived up to the expectations of the Nigerian masses, adding that they had made the country proud and had written their names in gold.
He said that the apex court ruling had reinforced his belief in the ability and capacity of the judiciary to right any wrong in political evolution.
He recalled a similar incident during the buildup to the 2019 general election, in which he was then the leading contender for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara.
“I protested against the conduct of the kangaroo primaries and the imposition of candidates by the then governor, Abdulaziz Yari. The judiciary stood up to the occasion and delivered a landmark judgement that gave the whole state to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The judiciary must be allowed to be just and fair no matter whose ox is gored; this is necessary if the political actors want democracy to endure in the country,” he said.
Marafa urged the eight governors whose election was affirmed to be magnanimous, just and fair in governing their states.
He congratulated Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara and urged him to work to justify the confidence reposed in him by the people of the state.
“I hereby call on the governor of our dear state, Zamfara, to collaborate with His Excellency, President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and relevant security agencies to restore the much-needed peace and security in the state.
“Peace is what our people are yearning for and nothing more,” he said.