The Zamfara State coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Kabir Garba Marafa, has said that President Bola Tinubu was strengthening the reward system of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Marafa said under Tinubu’s watch those who genuinely worked for the party’s victory at the February 28 poll would be rewarded.
He spoke at a gathering of Zamfara State members of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council on Tuesday night in Abuja.
There were concerns in the APC that long-standing members who have laboured for the party don’t get rewarded while new entrants get juicy positions in government.
The event, which was organised to thank God for Tinubu’s victory and successful swearing-in last Monday, had many Zamfara PCC members, including women and youths from across the 14 local government areas of the state in attendance.
While Tinubu won Zamfara State during the presidential poll, APC, the ruling party, subsequently lost the governorship election in the state.
Speaking at the gathering on Tuesday, Marafa said Tinubu appreciates their contributions and would reward them for contributing to his victory at the polls.
He attributed APC’s defeat at the Zamfara State governorship election to hypocrisy and anti-party activities by some chieftains, saying President Tinubu knew 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 that 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.”
Various leaders of the party who spoke during the event extolled the virtues of the immediate-past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, and expressed optimism that the party will regain the state at the court.
They also prayed for the success of Tinubu administration, saying by God’s grace the challenges facing the country would be tackled.
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