Recently, one Yusuf Dingyadi who claimed to be the only multipurpose special assistant to Gov. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state fired a provoked salvo at the All Progressives Congress family in sokoto state, with a declaration that APC was finished in the state.
He also went on to attack the APC leaders claiming that they will all be retired in 2023, insisting that they had become expired politicians just like his political liability masters such as Bafarawa and now Atiku Abubakar.Political watchers must be wondering what prompted such outburst from Dingyadi, especially at a time that even the state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, had began to reach out to the opposition for cooperation.It could be recalled that shortly after the Supreme Court judgment, Gov. Tambuwal promised to run an all inclusive government in sokoto.To this end, both friends and foes of Gov Tambuwal must have been taken aback by Dingyadi’s declaration as this could provoke serious backlash for the governor.But reliable sources have revealed that Dingyadi may not be on the same page with Governor Tambuwal whose presidential ambition in 2023 is an open secret.
The rumour in town which has some elements of credibility is that Dingyadi is actually working for former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, towards the 2023 presidential primary in the PDP.Credible sources confirmed that Dingyadi has been recruited to coordinate Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi axis for the Turaki in preparation for the Tambuwal/Wike challenge that the Turaki is likely to face at the primary.In return, the former VP has promised to ensure that Dingyadi either secures the Boginga/Tureta/Dange-Shuni House of Reps ticket or a juicy appointment at the federal level.Within the last few weeks sources have confirmed seeing Dingyadi in the Abuja residence of Atiku Abubakar, attending meetings with Atiku’s men.
While it may appear on the surface that Dingyadi was merely promoting the PDP in Sokoto state, he actually may be executing Atiku’s agenda to create serious political distraction for the governor, through deliberate instigation of inter party crisis that will put the governor at constant loggerhead with the opposition.However, the current political situation in Sokoto does not support the wild assumptions by Dingyadi that APC was finished because after the 2015 elections, the same scenario was painted about the final collapse of the PDP but bounced back strongly and upset the APC.If anything at all the quiet rapproachment by the governor to the APC leaders is a diplomatic admission that the PDP is still on a very slippery ground in the state, considering that a larger percentage of political observers believe that Sokoto is an APC state.It is possible that Dingyadi is over excited by his new found love with the former VP, he may need to tarry a while before he runs into trouble with his new masters. “APC is finished in Sokoto.
By 2023, I don’t think there will be anything called APC in Sokoto. People of Sokoto are tired of APC lies and propaganda. PDP is in good hands in Sokoto, people like Bafarawa and the deputy governor, all past good leaders are solidly in support of PDP. PDP has nothing to fear come 2023 by the grace of God”, Yusuf Dingyadi may be kind enough to explain to us the yardstick he used in measuring his shallow argument that Sokoto is a PDP state. Wamakko made PDP a household name in 2007 but before then PDP had always been in the opposition.
The author of the above wishful thinking, Dingyadi, needs to go back to a political nursery school because he lacks the ingredients of political argument.What happened in the last election has proved that never say never as it is not over until it is all over. Dingyadi addressed himself as a multi-purpose special assistant to Gov. Tambuwal which I believe is the first of its kind in Nigerian politics. What is multi-purpose? Jack of all trade but with no competence? Is Dingyadi telling the world that competent special assistants are lacking under Tambuwal’s administration, hence his selection as a multi-purpose special assistant with no office?I must commend the editor who burnt the midnight candle to edit that shallow banter for grammar and precision. In that watery and unimaginative banter, the so called power hungry social media Hausa commentator talked on security, corruption and politics largely dwelling on an area he knows nothing about,
The last time the good people of Sokoto checked, the Tambuwal administration has more blood on its head than one can imagine. In Rabah alone not less than a thousand precious lives have been murdered while Goronyo and Tangaza local governments have had several ambushes and loss of lives. What lies would this so called multipurpose special assistant want his readers to believe again when recently there was a bandits invasion of a polling booth in Isa local government area where House of Reps re run election took place?
On January 25, to be precise, bandits stormed one polling booth in Isa denying voters from exercising their civic rights and sad as the situation appeared, the bandits struck a deal with the PDP and were paid huge sums of money before they left the place back to their trenches. Really, the Tambuwal administration has signed truce with bandits because they aided the PDP to rig in that election in Isa. Is this the kind of truce Mr Multipurpose wants us to believe was signed?Although, he was quick to accept that “I am not a security expert” then why do you have to lie about something you are ignorant of?On corruption, Dingyadi was as expected too weak and very shallow in his allegations by claiming that the EFCC in Sokoto has been arresting and intimidating civil servants, if not civil servants who else?
Do you expect the EFCC to go after the private sector businessman who has nothing to do with government money? Why will Wamakko direct EFCC to go after civil servants when he is not the governor? Wamakko cannot and will never influence any EFCC official to intimidate any public officer under whatever circumstances. All those arrested by the EFCC in Sokoto were arrested because there were genuine petitions against them and alleging that EFCC in Sokoto takes orders from Wamakko is like other special advisors and assistants under Tambuwal take orders from the multipurpose special assistant. Is it possible?
Another baseless allegation made was that there are three strong petitions with the EFCC against Wamakko yet action has not been taken. Well Wamakko became vice chairman of the Senate committee on that anti graft body barely five months ago and these alleged petitions are being recycled for years now, so how can this frivolous and mischievous allegation match reality?Wamakko like any other former governor can be accused of corruption to suit the imagination of the opposition but how many times has he come out boldly and dared anyone with evidence of corruption against him to make it public?
Senator Wamakko will never in anyway stop anyone with evidence to present it despite being the Senate Committee Vice Chairman of the anti graft body .It is normal in politics for the opposition to be crying wolf where there is no sheep . On Dingyadi’s permutation that APC is finished, that is for the Sokoto electorate to decide as they decided in the 2019 presidential elections and governorship election but as he Dingyadi asserted, INEC and PDP connived and rigged the APC in that March 2019 governorship election.
Electoral fraud was visible and even Gov. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal knows from the bottom of his heart that he lost in that election but because of political corruption both INEC and the court swept the APC petition under the carpet but come what may, time will tell.Dingyadi was quick to add to the frustrations of PDP members in Sokoto by reminding them of the all time welcome back crowd that always escort Wamakko from the Sultan Abubakar 111 International Airport to his residence. No politician in Sokoto can pull such crowd except Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and I challenge Dingyadi to prove me wrong. The plus and minus of Dingyadi’s unguarded utterances against Wamakko is to please Bafarawa who has since been retired politically by Wamakko.
But now that we know that Dingyadi cannot be trusted by any serious minded politician we wait to see how this political “double agent” intends to serve Tambuwal as his multipurpose special assistant without portfolio and his new found political master Atiku Abubakar who is Tambuwal’s headache in the PDP.This self acclaimed “multipurpose” special assistant without office should learn to wash his dirty hands before thinking of eating with kings. If good governance is what the people of Sokoto expect from Tambuwal here are the kind of special assistants to assist him in governing the state battling to settle SSCE fees, struggling to settle monthly salaries, limping to uplft quality of education, healthcare and other vital social needs. The quality with which Dingyadi, a so called Hausa commentator and quasi journalist, is measured, is the quality of the government in Sokoto .
Muhammad writes [email protected]
