Former Zamfara Central Senator, Kabiru Garba Marafa, who served as the Zamfara State Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Organisation in the 2023 Presidential Election, has announced his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central in the Senate from 2011 to 2019, said his decision to quit the party was due to what he described as President Bola Tinubu’s “use-and-dump” style of leadership.
The resignation followed a two-day meeting of the Senator Kabiru Marafa Consultative Forum, which brought together supporters from all 14 local government areas of Zamfara State. The meeting, held in Kaduna on August 27 and 28, 2025, reviewed the worsening security, political, and developmental challenges facing the state.
At the end of the meeting, the Forum issued a communiqué signed by its chairman, Comrade Bashir Muhammad Mafara; secretary, Dr. Mannir Bature Tsafe; and other members.
The communiqué recalled that under Marafa’s coordination, President Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election in Zamfara. At the height of the campaign, Marafa had assured Tinubu that he did not need to visit the state because his structure would deliver the votes — a promise he fulfilled.
However, the group expressed regret that despite this loyalty, Zamfara has allegedly suffered neglect under Tinubu’s administration.
Among its grievances, the Forum cited escalating insecurity in the state, noting reports that Zamfara topped Nigeria’s list of kidnappings in 2024. Out of 4,722 abductions recorded nationwide, 1,203 occurred in Zamfara alone. Within a week of a recent bye-election, 25 villages were reportedly attacked, 145 people abducted, and 21 killed.
The group condemned the alleged deployment of security forces to secure APC’s electoral victory in the Kaura Namoda bye-election while failing to protect lives in communities ravaged by banditry.
It also lamented what it described as unfair treatment in federal appointments, noting that Zamfara only got a Minister of State slot while other Northwest states received two full ministerial positions each. Meanwhile, states where Tinubu lost — especially Lagos — allegedly enjoyed greater political and developmental patronage.
The Forum further accused the Presidency of ignoring Zamfara victims of banditry, unlike other states where the President personally intervened with visits and relief support.
It added that Marafa’s political structure had been sidelined in party affairs, contrary to APC’s founding principles of fairness, equity, and inclusiveness.
After “exhaustive consultations and a critical review of prevailing circumstances,” the Forum resolved as follows:
That the entire political structure of Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa across the 147 wards of Zamfara State has formally resigned from the APC in protest against “sustained injustice, mistrust, marginalisation, and deliberate neglect” of the state and its people.
That the group will, in due course, announce its next political direction, guided solely by the collective interest of Zamfara people.
