Zamfara civil servants on Saturday bade the outgoing state Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, farewell at the last Ramadan breakfast of his eight years tenure as governor.
Labour leader at the state, Bashir Mafara, at the governor’s private residence in Talata-Mafara, commended him for bringing development to the state in the last eight years.
“Your Excellency has made remarkable achievements that have now made the state better than it was and your relationship with the workers have been relatively cordial.
“Sir, while commending you for the release of N2 billion recently to offset the backlog of pensions, we also want to plead with you to offset all outstanding debt before you finally exit next week.
“We wish you luck in all your future endeavours as you finally leave office as governor and pray that your successor continues with the good work,” he said.
Also, the Speaker, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji who prayed Allah not to put the governor to shame as he hands over, assured the outgoing chief executive that “we shall continue to follow your guide as our leader”.
The speaker urged all APC supporters in the state to be “patient, steadfast and supportive of each other as we leave office and government as a party”.
Responding, Yari said that “everything that has a beginning must have an end; I wish to give thanks to Almighty Allah for seeing us through this day and to assure you that even though I’m now exiting as governor, we will continue to meet in different capacities to discuss matters of mutual interest.
“l thought my successor would come from our party, but the Supreme Court Judgment says no; I am now praying that the new leaders will work for the peace, unity and prosperity of our state.
“The incoming administration should also consolidate on our efforts, especially in tackling banditry which has bedevilled the state over the years.
“l also wish to draw the attention of all our supporters and members of our party, the APC, to remain calm because we have already accepted yesterday’s (Friday) Supreme Court Judgment nullifying our state party primaries and the elections.
“As Muslims we believe that whatever happens has since been ordained by Allah and He alone knows what the future holds for us,” he concluded.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Supreme Court in Abuja cancelled the election that gave victory to the APC in governorship, state and national assembly elections for failure to conduct an acceptable party primaries.
The court also directed that all the positions should now go to the political parties and candidates with the second highest number of votes, a development which gave the mandate of the governorship position to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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