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Fresh controversy has emerged within the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Zamfara State after senatorial aspirant, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, denied withdrawing from the Zamfara North Senatorial primary election.
Shinkafi, in a letter addressed to the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, rejected claims that he stepped down for a consensus candidate ahead of the party’s May 19 primary election.
He maintained that he neither withdrew from the race nor issued any statement indicating his withdrawal.
“I did not withdraw from the senatorial race, did not write any letter that I stepped down, and did not make any private or public statement that I withdrew from the primary,” he stated.
The aspirant alleged that some influential figures within the party orchestrated his exclusion from the primary process.
According to him, aspirants in Zamfara State were informed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had directed all senatorial aspirants to step down for serving senators, a move he described as arbitrary.
Shinkafi argued that the alleged arrangement violated provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to party primaries and consensus candidacy.
He also warned that the APC risked repeating the internal crisis that led to the party losing all elective positions in Zamfara State after the 2019 elections.
The aspirant further alleged that political thugs were mobilised to disrupt the senatorial primaries in parts of the state to pave the way for what he described as an illegal consensus arrangement.
Shinkafi said he had directed his supporters in Zamfara North Senatorial District not to participate in the affirmation of candidates, insisting that he would challenge his exclusion in court.
He also warned that insecurity, economic hardship and internal divisions within the APC could affect the party’s chances in the 2027 general elections in the state.
2027: Zamfara APC crisis deepens as Shinkafi disputes primary outcome
