A fresh wave of discord has hit the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State following Senatorial aspirant Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi’s firm denial of withdrawing from the Zamfara North primary election.
In a formal letter to the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, Shinkafi dismissed claims that he stepped aside for a consensus candidate during the party’s May 19 primary. He insisted he never withdrew or issued any statement to that effect.
“I did not step down from the senatorial race. I neither wrote any withdrawal letter nor made any public or private declaration of withdrawal,” Shinkafi asserted.
The aspirant accused certain powerful party figures of scheming to exclude him from the primary process. He claimed that aspirants in Zamfara were told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had instructed all senatorial hopefuls to make way for incumbents—a directive he termed arbitrary and illegal.
Shinkafi argued that such an arrangement contravenes the Electoral Act 2026 provisions governing party primaries and consensus candidates. He warned that the APC risks repeating the internal implosion that cost the party all elective seats in Zamfara after the 2019 polls.
He further alleged that political thugs were deployed to disrupt senatorial primaries in some areas, deliberately clearing the path for an illegitimate consensus. Shinkafi said he instructed his supporters in Zamfara North not to take part in the affirmation of candidates, vowing to legally challenge his exclusion.
He also cautioned that rising insecurity, economic hardship, and deepening internal rifts within the APC could jeopardize the party’s performance in the 2027 general elections in the state.