Governor Tambuwal and his ‘thugs’

Recent developments in Sokoto appear to support the suggestions that the governor may have resorted to the use of thugs to harass and intimidate political leaders from the All Progressives Congress (APC) for not supporting his defection to the PDP.
Among his prime target is Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who is being attacked by thugs seemingly working for Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
The first incident happened about two weeks ago when Magatakarda was waylaid on his way from the Sultan Abubakar International Airport to his house by thugs suspected to be working for the governor.
The second incident happened few days ago at Goronyo town where hired thugs also took to the street accusing Magatakarda of not completing the housing project he started while he was governor.
Anyone with average intelligence will wonder why this is coming now, more than three years after Wamakko left office in 2015.
The fact that these two incidents happened without any condemnation from the governor or his aides show clearly that they were state sponsored.
The good people of Sokoto state are now wondering why it is the governor that is trying to disturb the peace and harmony of the state through the deployment of seemingly hired thugs to harass those that are not on the same page with him.
It is important to advise Governor Tambuwal to show maturity by tolerating political dissents, after all, it is not the fault of Magatakarda that the people of Sokoto state have rejected Tambuwal’s defection to the PDP.
Rather, he should blame himself for the wrong political decision which was borne out of an inordinate ambition to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Since the Sokoto state people have rejected him, he should stop scape-goating respected leaders like Wamakko, who was his major political benefactor.
A word is enough for the wise.
We have also noticed the subtle attempt to tar Alu with the brush of financial impropriety as governor of Sokoto state, it is too late in the day for Tambuwal to impress anybody with such wicked gimmicks.
He should know that very few people attach any importance to such claims, especially coming from a man who would shamelessly accuse President Buhari of doing nothing for Sokoto state, when evidence on ground suggests otherwise.
The fact that Governor Tambuwal has become desperate in his current failed political mission should not serve as excuse to attempt to run respected leaders down.
We challenge Governor Tambuwal to disclose the quantum of monies he has collected from the federal allocations and the internally generated revenue in the state since 2015, when he became governor.
Let us see the projects he has executed within the same period, so that we can compare whether resources have been put to judicious use.
We would like to advice Governor Tambuwal to tread softly, because we are under pressure to open his exploits in the National Assembly concerning humongous financial deals that are still being investigated by the graft commissions.
It does not lie in the mouth of Governor Tambuwal to accuse anyone of financial impropriety, least of all Magatakarda who today remains the rallying point for the masses in Sokoto.
Sharafadeen Mohammed, Abuja