By Aminu Mohammed
History does not repeat itself but some circumstances produce same reactions. On January 19, 2015 when President Goodluck Jonathan visited Sokoto in continuation of his nationwide campaign tour, former Sokoto state governor, Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, was among the “comedian” speakers who addressed the half empty race course with a view to convincing the electorate to vote for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
As if he is yet to learn from history, he assured the president that the state is still a PDP-dominated state and that beginning from February 14, 2015, the party would sweep all the elective positions in Sokoto state without allowing the All Progressives Congress (APC) which is controlling the state to win a single councillorship seat. You may call it comedy of errors or irony of fate but deep down in his political heart, the former governor knew he was pulling Mr. President’s leg. If I were President Jonathan I would smile and look him in the eye and ask him how come you lost to Wamakko in 2007 when you had control of the state and now that you do not have a single councilor in the state, how do you intend to achieve what you said? Well, your guess is as good as mine whether Jonathan took Bafarawa seriously or not. In politics you have to lie, cheat, be crafty and above all in Nigerian politics you have to be ruthless to get recognition. In fact, even Bafarawa who gave that assurance to Jonathan knew it was mission impossible.
The gubernatorial race in Sokoto has two peculiar factors that will make the contest very dramatic, eventful, competitive and above all, memorable. First, it is to rekindle the long standing political rivalry for the soul of Sokoto between former governor Bafarawa and out-going governor Wamakko. Again, it is a contest that will for the first time in the history of the state bring In-laws together to fight for the number one seat in the state. The political rivalry between Bafarawa and Wamakko began shortly as they were sworn in as governor and deputy, respectively, in 1999 under the banner of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) which later became ANPP. The history of the political rivalry between the two former allies is therefore dated back to 1999 and since then they never seem to share common political ideology. Incidentally, Senator Abdallah Wali who is now the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state lost out to Wamakko as deputy governor and he along with some politicians in then APP defected to PDP which gave Wali an automatic Senatorial seat which he won eventually and became Leader of the Senate in 1999.
Now that both Bafarawa and Wamakko are not contesting for the governorship seat, one would have expected the political climate to be cool for those contesting but it is still a battle between Bafarawa and Wamakko and as I mentioned earlier the contest would be dramatic, eventful, colorful, highly competitive and hi-tech affair considering the circumstances surrounding the candidates of the two major political parties in the state the APC which is the ruling party and the PDP which ruled for more than six years but now itself in the opposition rank.
In 1999, Senator Abdallah Wali was a founding member of the APP and when he lost out as Bafarawa’s running mate, he decamped to the PDP and became a senator. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who is raising the APC flag was a member of the PDP in 1999 and crossed over to the APP and in 2003 he found himself in the House of Representatives at the same time Wali left for Sokoto to contest for the governorship seat against Bafarawa in 2003. He went to court because the PDP believed it won that election but the court felt otherwise. Since then, he never left the PDP and was compensated with a ministerial position before he was appointed as an ambassador to Morocco. He is still Nigeria’s envoy to that country. Many political analysts thought he was done with the governorship position until last year when he surprised everyone with the way he was spending money as an aspirant. Today, fate has brought him closer to the same man he took to court in 2003 praying for the court to annul Bafarawa’s victory and declare him winner.
Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on the other hand is another fine man and like Mark Anthony in the book Julius Ceaser, a smart politician whose power of speech as a lawyer is his major weapon in his political armoury.
The power of speech in politics is a necessary ingredient and this as well as his accommodative nature coupled with his zeal to see a new Nigeria evolves, are credentials boosting his chances but his greatest asset as far as this election is concerned, is the Wamakko factor which is so far the APC “Tsunami” in Sokoto state.
Both Wamakko and Tambuwal are about making history because no governor in the history of Sokoto state has had his anointed candidate succeed him since 1979 when Mohammed Shehu Kangiwa became the first civilian governor. The APC in Sokoto has two factors favouring it, the Wamakko factor and the Buhari Tsunami while the PDP is unfortunate to have the Jonathan Bamuso factor and the Bafarawa dwindling political fortunes as its undoing.
While waiting for the final battle between Bafarawa and Wamakko, the APC is already jubilating because the slogan in Sokoto is “Sai Mai Gaskiya Sai Alu”
Mohammed wrote from Sokoto.
