Former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, who was detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since Wednesday, was still in the custody of the secret police as of 8 pm Saturday night.
Yari, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), represents Zamfara West in the Senate.
No reason was given for his detention but the ex-Zamfara State governor was believed to have provoked the ire of President Bola Tinubu and the APC when he contested the Senate President of the 10th Senate with the anointed candidate of the party, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Yari defied Tinubu and the APC and pushed to be Senate President even after party leaders publicly endorsed Akpabio for the position, largely on account of Akpabio’s southern Christian identity and second Senate term.
The party sought to dispel insinuations about the alleged Islamisation agenda by ceding the Senate presidency to a Christian, since Tinubu; his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas are Muslims.
Also, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola is Muslim.
But Yari, who defied his party’s zoning arrangement, insisted that a northerner should head one of the three arms of the government.
However, Akpabio scored 63 votes to defeat the Zamfara senator, who got 46 votes in the June 13 election.
There were speculations that Yari’s arrest was connected with the election.
However, others linked his arrest to alleged corruption.
Efforts to speak to the spokesman of the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, proved abortive.
Yari had earlier secured a Federal High Court directive forbidding the DSS, EFCC, and other law enforcement bodies from arresting the senator on corruption charges.
The restraining order was renewed last month, with law enforcement sources telling The Gazette they would continue investigations on the matter meanwhile.
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