Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, yesterday said he would relinquish his position if doing so will solve the security challenges in the Northwest State.
The governor said he has no objection to the declaration of state of emergency in his domain to restore peace.
He spoke with reporters after holding a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Noting that the security situation in the state has improved, Yari said the bandits responsible for the security breach breed their cattle in the forest and strike occasionally.
He also accused the security agencies, especially the police of not doing enough by promptly replacing redeployed officers.
According to him, some of the officers that were transferred out of the state after serving three years have not been replaced.
He noted that the lingering cases of armed banditry will not affect the forthcoming elections.
Stating that he met the President over the security situation in the state, he said the issue of the armed banditry was being exaggerated.
He said: “You are aware of what is happening in Zamfara State, and some part of the neighbouring state on the issue of banditry, abduction and insurgency; so, it’s important that I come forward to brief Mr. President on the situation on ground which I just did.
“We sit down as head of security in the state with other stakeholders to review the situation and come with the report that we think will help the security agencies through Mr. President to strategise so that they can curb the problem.”
On the current situation, he said: “The situation is calm now, as a state we are putting our best to ensure normalcy return, we have started getting results, we believe strongly with what we have on ground in terms of number of security personnel, if they take their job seriously, within a short time, we’ll get out of this situation. And we hope that with encouragement from the President, in no time, the issues will be a thing of the past.”
Speaking on the call for the declaration state of emergency, he said: “Yes, we are there as a government because it’s the lives of people we are talking about; if there are no lives, we won’t be there. So, therefore, I did not make that statement out of politics because the way some other people are looking at it politically, since my inception, I have never taken insecurity as a political affair, but I look at it as criminality and I approach it in the way that it can be solved. Some other politicians have been calling for state of emergency since three years ago, then I said to myself, if state of emergency would solve the problem, then Yari is ready.”
But, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Abubakar Atiku,read a political meaning to call for the emergency declaration by the governor, describing as a “deal” between President Buhari and Yari.
In a reaction titled: “State of emergency: Buhari cuts deal with Yari, Masari to ‘Capture’ Zamfara, Katsina,” Atiku described the governor’s call as suspicious, even as he welcomed any measure that would bring about peace in the restive states.
Speaking through statement by Frank Shaibu, one of his media aides, Atiku warned that imposing emergency rule in the two states can only address the symptoms and not the cause of the current security crisis in the Northwest.
The statement alleged: “The deal being struck between the Federal Government and the governors of Zamfara and Katsina States reflects the desperation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led FG to ‘capture’ the states at all cost during next month’s general elections.
“The deal, cut at a meeting in the presidential villa in Abuja is simple: The FG will impose a state of emergency in Zamfara to provide a window for the APC to field a candidate for the governorship election in the state having failed to do so within the time frame stipulated by the commission (Independent National Electoral Commission).”
Atiku was quoted as saying that the implication of the plot was that President Buhari has plans to “capture” Zamfara and Katsina States for the ruling party despite the promise he made to ensure credible polls.
According to him, the emergency rule will trigger “more militarization of the affected areas, more roadblocks and the constriction of the civil liberties of the people”.
He called on the Zamfara governor to resign since he has confessed to his failure to protect the security of lives and property of the people of the state.
“In other climes, Governor Yari would have gone ahead to address the people of Zamfara State who elected him into office to let them know that he is incapable of protecting them, instead of merely calling on the President to declare a state of emergency in the state,” Atiku said.