– Ignored Phone Calls From President Tinubu Cited As Possible Reason For Arrest
Former Zamfara State Governor and current Senator, Abdulaziz Yari has been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS).
The Peoples Gazette is reporting that Yari was invited to the DSS office on Thursday and arrested on allegations of ignoring phone calls from President Bola Tinubu during the tussle for the office of the Senate President. Yari was invited by the Director General of the DSS, Yusuf Bichi and was told late at night that he would not be going home.
Yari was allegedly asked the reason for ignoring the President’s phone calls, but he was said to have argued that he had the right to contest for any position and his political career moves cannot be determined by the President.
It is also alleged that the intervention of President Tinubu was to avoid the scenario of 2015 where Bukola Saraki went against the agreement and usurped the office of the Senate President and openly defying then President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senator Yari contested the Senate Presidency but lost to Senator Godswill Akpabio who was the choice of President Tinubu. Both men are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the party hierarchy had decided to zone the Senate Presidency to the South-South Zone where Akpabio hails from. Yari had vowed to go against the zoning policy and was actively gathering supporters to challenge the policy in the Senate.
Yari and some of his associates were also said to be planning to challenge the outcome of the election in court citing several irregularities in the process. This particular move would be directly at cross purposes with the direction chosen by the new administration.
The arrest of Yari adds to the recent high-profile arrests and detention by the DSS of prominent officials. Recall that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa had been arrested and detained by the DSS.
No charges have been brought forward in court against the arrested officials yet.
