Former lawmaker, who represented Zamfara Central in 7th and 8th National Assembly, Senator Kabir Garba Marafa has described President Bola Tinubu as a politician who rewards loyalty.
Marafa furthered that Tinubu’s presidency would reward those who contributed to the party’s victory in the last presidential poll.
He made the remark in a meeting with Zamfara State members of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council on Tuesday night at the Top Rank Hotels Galaxy, Abuja.
He, however, raised concerns that some long-standing party loyalists in the APC are not adequately rewarded while new members get juicy appointments in government.
While Tinubu won Zamfara during the presidential election, the state Governor, Bello Matawalle lost his re-election bid to Dauda Lawal of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Speaking on behalf of Tinubu, Marafa thanked the party loyalists, noting that their contributions to party’s victory at the February 25 poll would be rewarded.
Marafa revealed that some unloyal members of the APC in the state played a huge role in the party’s loss during the governorship election, saying President Tinubu knows those who worked against him in the state.
He said, “I am not good at sycophancy or anything associated with it, but Mr President appreciates me; he obliged me immediately when the issue of inauguration came up, I have reasons to complain. Some people would say, ‘he has started.’
“We were appointed to pilot these activities in our various states. The mandate given to us by the PCC central was to have a state coordinator, and three zonal coordinators and like Zamfara we had local government coordinators, 147 ward coordinators and polling units coordinators and we gathered all these personalities and worked together tirelessly day and night and now it’s time for the inauguration and we don’t have any invitation extended to our people.
“Mr President said Marafa, go and represent me, call them, thank them for me, let’s hit the ground running. And when you go, deliver these few messages.
“Mr. President said he is still on his promise to change the reward system of the government. And I am sure he is going to do it. Mr. President appreciates what Zamfara did.
“Politics is about inclusion, politics is about people. So what I did is your efforts collectively; all of you. We all gathered to deliver. We give gratitude to God because we were given an assignment and we delivered. It’s not us; it’s God. God made it possible for all of us and we have delivered.
“Pity is for those that didn’t try at all. Sympathy goes to people that tried but failed. Failure is an essential ingredient of success; without failure, you cannot succeed. We have learnt a lot from this.
“I am thankful to God because of the mercy he has shown to us because we won before, we won again and we won again. So if we lose now, what is the big deal about it? You cannot know who is good until there is a comparison.
“Some people were given an assignment and they failed woefully, we were given an assignment and we delivered triumphantly so we thank God. So I want to assure you the President has Zamfara in his mind, he is the President of the country, not Zamfara alone. This is the person that appreciates people; this is a person that appreciates what people have done.
“We have told him everything; he is aware of the anti-party that was committed in Zamfara State. The era of monkey dey work, baboon dey chop is over.
“I thank God, throughout my career in politics till today, even my enemies attest to the fact that I am not a hypocrite and I thank God for that.
“I don’t belong to any bloc except the women’s club. They formed a large part of my voters and I always appreciate women and I will always identify with women.
“We all know who hypocrites are. How did we lose the state governorship election? It is the actions of hypocrites, simple.
“We saw the signs of hypocrisy in Zamfara the time the President visited Zamfara State. That was the time we saw the cracks.
“Thank God we were able to identify them and nip them in the bud and the result is, our president won with a very wide margin. Glory to God.”
