A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Sani Jaji, has accused the Minister of State for Defence and former Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, of allegedly undermining the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state by frustrating the party’s ongoing electronic membership registration exercise.
Jaji, who represents Kaura-Namoda/Birnin Magaji Federal Constituency, warned that the alleged actions could spark a major internal crisis and further weaken party unity in Zamfara ahead of future elections.
He claimed that key party officials and loyal members were deliberately prevented from participating in the e-registration process, describing the situation as a calculated move to destabilise the APC.
The lawmaker made the allegation on Wednesday while speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting with the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. He said the visit was to formally alert the national leadership to what he described as dangerous internal manoeuvres in the state.
“I came to see the national chairman of our great party, the APC, and also the party executives. When the e-registration exercise started, I was out of the country for the lesser hajj. While I was away, my people called to inform me that there were serious issues,” Jaji said.
“They stopped the State Organising Secretary from participating in the process, and some party members in the state were denied registration. Even I have not been registered. As a sitting member of the House of Representatives and someone who served as Director of Budget and Operations during the 2023 general election, I believe something is fundamentally wrong.”
He warned that such actions could be aimed at undermining the unity of the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections, drawing parallels with events that led to the collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara in 2015.
“In such a situation, we cannot allow this to continue. That is why we decided to engage the national chairman so he would not permit such developments. Similar scenarios played out in 2015 when the PDP leadership and party structures were undermined, leading to the party’s collapse in the state,” he added.
According to Jaji, the APC national chairman promptly responded to the concerns raised and assured that the matter would be addressed.
“When I met the chairman, he was glad to see me and assured me that the issue must be resolved. He addressed it immediately,” Jaji said.
The lawmaker also blamed the deepening crisis in Zamfara APC on an apparent leadership vacuum within the party in the state.
“There is no clear leader of the party in the state, and that is why we are having these problems. Ordinarily, by party tradition, the immediate past governor who is now a minister should assume that role. But since that leadership is not clearly in place, the vacuum has allowed these shenanigans to thrive,” he stated.
Jaji, however, maintained that despite being governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Zamfara remains a stronghold of the APC, stressing the need for unity and internal cohesion to reclaim the state politically.
