Tinubu Remains Committed to Changing Reward System in APC, Says Marafa

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Zamfara State Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Kabir Garba Marafa, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is putting machineries in place to strengthen the reward system of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Marafa said with Tinubu at the helm of  affairs of the country, the era of ‘monkey  de work baboon de chop’ is over, stressing that those who genuinely worked for Tinubu’s victory at the February 28 poll would be rewarded.

There are 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.

But addressing Zamfara State members of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council Wednesday night in Abuja, Marafa said Tinubu appreciates their contributions and would reward them for contributing to his victory at the polls. 

The event was organised to thank God for Tinubu’s victory and successful swearing-in last Monday. 

Hundreds of Zamfara PCC members including women and youths from across the 14 LGAs of the state attended the event.

Tinubu won Zamfara during the presidential poll but the ruling party lost the governorship election in the state.

Marafa, however, attributed APC’s defeat at the Zamfara State governorship election to hypocrisy and anti-party activities by some chieftains, saying President Tinubu knows those who worked against him in the state. 

He said: “I am not good at sycophancy and hypocrisy, 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 14 local government coordinators, 147 ward coordinators and over 3,500 polling unit 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.

“Mr. President said he is still on his promise to change the reward system of government and I am sure he is going to do it. Mr. President appreciates you, the good people of Zamfara.

“Politics is about inclusion, politics is about people.  So what we achieved in Zamfara was a collective effort by 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 are grateful to Him.

“Pity is for those that didn’t try at all, while 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. We thank those that symphatise with us.

“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 for his mercies upon us. I want to assure you the president has Zamfara in his mind even though he is the president of the whole country, not Zamfara alone. 

“We have told him everything; he is aware of the anti-party that was committed in Zamfara State. And he assured us that 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 don’t lie, I thank God for that.

“I don’t belong to any ‘club’ 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 the 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 since 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’s administration, saying by God’s grace, the challenges facing the country would be tackled.