Kabiru Marafa resignation from APC rocks Zamfara politics as ex-senator accuses Tinubu of betrayal, neglect, and failure to address insecurity

The Kabiru Marafa resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) has triggered fresh political tremors in Zamfara State, with the former senator and his supporters accusing President Bola Tinubu of betrayal and neglect.

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Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central in the 7th and 8th Senate, announced his departure alongside his supporters at a two-day consultative meeting in Kaduna on August 27–28, 2025.

Leaders of his political structure across all 147 wards and 14 local governments in Zamfara endorsed the decision.

According to a communiqué, the group cited “sustained injustice, mistrust, marginalisation and deliberate neglect of Zamfara State and its people” as reasons for leaving the ruling party.

Marafa recalled that Zamfara was one of only two North-West states that gave Tinubu victory in the 2023 election, yet the state had been sidelined in political appointments, infrastructure, and federal presence.

“While Lagos, where Tinubu lost, got multiple ministerial slots, Zamfara was given only a Minister of State portfolio,” the statement noted.

The communiqué also accused Tinubu’s administration of failing to address Zamfara’s worsening insecurity. Data cited showed Zamfara recorded 1,203 of the 4,722 nationwide kidnappings in 2024, making it the hardest-hit state. Just weeks ago, 25 villages suffered attacks in a single week, leading to 145 kidnappings and 21 deaths.

“Locations such as Fegin Mahe, Banga, Adafka, Damri and Jangebe have been devastated, yet no high-level federal relief has been extended,” the group lamented, contrasting this with Tinubu’s visits to states with less severe crises.

Marafa’s supporters further condemned the alleged politicisation of security during a by-election in Kaura Namoda, where military deployment was said to have facilitated APC’s electoral victory rather than protecting lives. “Security forces were withdrawn immediately after, and attacks resumed,” the communiqué stated.

They also decried excessive vote-buying in a state ravaged by poverty and insecurity, saying it showed that “the APC values power over human life.”

Once Tinubu’s Zamfara campaign coordinator in 2023, Marafa said loyalty had been met with betrayal. “Despite several appeals for recognition, our group has been treated as outsiders. The APC leadership has abandoned justice, fairness, and accountability,” the statement added.

The Forum resolved that Marafa’s entire political structure would formally exit the APC with immediate effect and would announce its next political direction later.

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The Kabiru Marafa resignation is likely to deepen discontent within the APC in the North-West, raising questions about Tinubu’s handling of loyal allies and Zamfara’s worsening insecurity.