A former National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has reminded those clamouring for a state of emergency in Zamfara State that the state is not Rivers where such declaration was made recently.
Shinkafi, a former governorship candidate in Zamfara, writing on behalf of the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development, PAPSD, dismissed the calls, describing it as politically motivated ill-conceived, unwarranted, unpatriotic and unconstitutional.
“It is a calculated attempt to destabilise the state, cause confusion and political upheavals and to undermine Governor Dauda Lawal’s [efforts],”; Shinkafi said.
Shinkafi believes that a cabal that held the state hostage for years has been sponsoring youths to stage protests calling for a state of emergency as declared in Rivers State.
“There is no comparison between the two states. The situation that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State is not applicable to Zamfara State,”; he insisted.
He said that it was unfortunate that despite efforts being made by the Governor to fulfill his campaign promises to Zamfara people, some opposition politicians in the state instead of aligning with the governor to build a better state had resorted to sponsoring youths to demonstrate in streets calling for a state of emergency as if Nigeria is a banana republic without laws and a constitution for progressive governance.
“They try to get from the backdoor what they lost in elections.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 188 of the 1999 constitution, as amended provides the procedure for the removal of a governor or deputy governor from office.
“It is obvious that Zamfara State is not in a state of war to require a state of emergency. The spate of terrorism, insurgency, banditry, militancy and kidnapping for ransom is not peculiar to Zamfara State, it preceded the incumbent administration of Gov Dauda Lawal.
“The resurgence of armed banditry in the state is due to the upcoming farming season which provides bandits an opportunity to extort money from farmers during clearing of farmlands, planting and harvesting.
“Compared to previous years, security in Zamfara State has significantly improved. Sadly, most of the videos and pictures of attacks circulating on social media were past attacks mischievously reposted to overheat the polity and undermine the visionary leadership of Gov Lawal.
“The governor like others in the 36 states of the federation has no constitutional power to deploy security agents if there is a security breach in any part of the state.
“The appellation of chief security officers of their states is merely ceremonial. It is an aspect of the constitution that should be amended to give powers to governors to deploy security agents to curb insecurity in their states,”; he stated.
He urged President Bola Tinubu and the military high command to quickly address the security breach as previously done, bearing in mind that security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government, as provided for in Section 14(2)b of the 1999 constitution, as amended.
“We commend the military personnel for their efforts and urge the Federal Government to motivate them and provide necessary weapons to defeat these criminal elements,”; he added.
He said, “We equally urge Governor Lawal to summon an emergency security summit in the state involving security chiefs, religious leaders, traditional rulers, local government chairmen and civil society organisations to brainstorm and chart the way forward.
“This will further guarantee public safety and order, and forestall the security breach witnessed recently at Kaura Namoda.”;
