Former All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Senator Kabiru Marafa, has vowed to mobilise against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 elections, pledging to slash the President’s votes by at least one million.
Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central in the Senate between 2011 and 2019, made the declaration on Monday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“I’m going to assure you something today. I will deduct one million out of Mr. President’s votes that he got in 2023. Mark my words. I will work for it and, by God’s grace, I’ll succeed,” Marafa vowed.
The former lawmaker recently resigned from the APC alongside his supporters, accusing President Tinubu of betrayal and adopting a “use-and-dump” style of politics. Marafa, who served as Zamfara State Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima campaign in 2023, alleged that campaign promises made to loyalists had been abandoned.
Dismissing suggestions that he has lost political relevance, Marafa fired back:
“Whether they call me paperweight or lightweight, 2027 will determine who is who.”
He insisted that growing discontent with the APC in Zamfara had united political heavyweights against the ruling party.
“Because of the heavy disenchantment of the people, anybody you can call substance in Zamfara State is now on one side,” he said.
Marafa cited the 2023 victory of Governor Dauda Lawal, a political newcomer, as evidence of the electorate’s resentment against the APC.
“That victory swept away seasoned politicians—former governors, senators, and ex-lawmakers—because people were tired of APC,” he argued.
The senator further accused Tinubu of failing to reform the APC’s reward system despite promising to end the culture of marginalisation.
“He promised to eradicate the concept of ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop.’ Instead, he entrenched it and made it a state policy of the APC,” Marafa said.
His defection marks the latest crack within the ruling party as discontent simmers ahead of 2027.
