Inspired by money accumulated in highly questionable ways, a former Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’Azeez Yari made the contest for Senate leadership of the 10th National Assembly badly competitive with a lot of negative implications to national stability.
Yari, who vied for the office of Senate President, polled 46 votes, while former Akwa Ibom Governor and former Minister, Godswill Akpabio secured 63 votes to win the election.
He had gone against the dictates of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC had nominated Akpabio for the position.
Both former governors are currently being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Yari had said before the election that he was sure that 76 senators were on his side.
“I can say there was a betrayal because as we were taking stock at 3:00 am on Tuesday before the election, we took stock of over 76 people,” he had said.
Yari Spent Billions
“We took into cognizance that there could be a fall-out of about 15 and we had agreed that if that happens, we would comfortably still have about 61 people. What we got was the reverse and yes, I felt betrayed over that outcome.”
Speaking to reporters during the weekend, a former lawmaker narrated how Yari lobbied the leadership of opposition political parties and spent billions of Naira on his aspiration.
He insisted that the former Governor was betrayed by “leadership of some opposition parties.”
He added, “In saner climes, everything should not end with Yari’s loss in the red hallowed chamber on June 13, 2023. A postmortem of how Yari accumulated the humongous amount of money he used to cause division along regional and religious lines earning him the title of ‘rebel leader’ to borrow from Senator Shehu Sani’s succinct description of his posture is urgent and necessary. Even Akpabio should be investigated so it won’t be a one way issue.
“Yari started the contest for Senate President immediately after the declaration of his victory as Senator representing Zamfara West Senatorial District in February 2023. He particularly instrumentalised the Lesser Hajj of the last Ramadan (mid-April 2023) to meet and induce Muslim Senators-elect with mouth-watering bunches of dollars in Saudi Arabia.
“In Abuja, Yari booked floors of rooms at the Transcorp Hilton and Continental hotels for the Senators-elect through May and June 2023 escalating the cost of booking in the two hotels to a record high. It was widely speculated that Yari bribed new Senators with houses in the Karsana area of Abuja and was prepared to buy the votes of 60 Senators at 1 million dollars each.
“To conclude, now that the game is over, Yari’s action against consensus should be treated with a strategic outlook to avoid the threat it poses to national stability in the future. Investigating the source of Yari’s stupendous wealth that he deploys to disrupt decency in political engagement is apt and timely,” another source added.
“A good starting point is retrieving his many open files since 2007 with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and thoroughly screening his asset declaration form vis-a-vis his legitimate ventures.”
