A drowning man grasps at straw. That is what the leader of the APC in
Sokoto state, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, is doing exactly:
groping in the dark and depth of defeat and rude rejection by the
people of Sokoto state.
After losing twice in two governorship elections in two weeks that his
party deployed every dirty trick to win unfairly, Wamakko is sulking
and blindly looking for who to blame for his self inflicted political
demise. And once again, he has fallen back on his theme of taking on
the symbol of everything that Sokoto is worth, the people’s very noble
heritage and source of pride, the Sultanate Council of Sokoto. In a
very scathing salvo, written by one George Onmonya Daniel, a Man
Friday, a hatchet writer, who has no stake in and, therefore, cares
nothing about desecrating the revered institution, Senator Wamakko
vilified the Sultan of Sokoto and the Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, for the
latter’s courtesy call on the Sultan. Everyone in Sokoto can recall
Wamakko’s similar shameful show of leading street urchins and
political thugs to the gates of the palace to chant obscenities and
threats of removal at the Sultan during the campaigns. They were
shouting on that despicable occasion: Sabon gwamna, sabon sarki,
meaning: “A new governor a new Sultan.”
APC has also at different occasions openly blamed the royal father of
partisanship, when, in fact, their dismal popularity rating and their
ignominious rejection by the people of Sokoto state, is a logical
response to their disagreeable posture and image. Whipping up the old,
settled issue of the purchase of a guest house for the Sultanate
Council by the Sokoto state government is a ridiculous way to lick the
wound of electoral defeat. After all, APC’s defeated governorship
candidate, Ahmed Aliyu, was the deputy governor and commissioner for
works to Tambuwal and thus a bona fide member of the executive council
that approved the purchase of the property in reference. Their latest
misbehaviour is a clear indication that Wamakko and his motley in the
APC are too unremorseful to turn a new leaf, in spite of their
collective reprimand by the people for disrespecting the revered
symbol of our honour. This leads us to the discovery or, conclusion
that the senator never honestly, sincerely held the traditional
institution in any regard, even when as state governor he was always
vaunting or and boasting of incurring huge expenditure for their
benefit. His “patronage” of our royal fathers, some of whom he
nevertheless dethroned for political reasons, was, as it is, after
all, insincere and deceptive.
Raising storms in tea cups, making mountains out of mole hills is a
subscription open only to sore losers. Otherwise, the interaction
between the national chairman of INEC and Sultan of Sokoto should not
raise any moral or legal issues. This is because, rationally, now that
elections are over, neither personalities has a statutory role that puts
him in a position to influence the outcome of the Sokoto APC case
before the election petition tribunal. And unless Wamakko and his
party wish to make a much poorer case than everyone knows they will
make, INEC ought to be joined in their case as a respondent at the
tribunal, not the judge. Enlisting personalities, who have no stake in
the Sokoto state governorship election, to infringe on the honour and
respect of the people in print and broadcast media, is a needless show
of irresponsible conduct.
Rather than rabble rousing, the Sokoto APC leader and his followers
need to individually and collectively seek the pardon of the people
for their misdemeanours during the polls. Their electoral defeat should
be a motivation for pursuing reconciliation with the masses, instead
of being the impetus for belligerence against the heritage and the
values of the people. Recourse to mud slinging and the employment of
media attack dogs to hound the revered father of a people is, once
again, a clear glimpse into the peculiar brand of Sokoto APC. It is
that clear sign that guided the choice of the electorate in the elections. And meetings involving any calibre of personalities couldnot have made the outcome of that vote any different.
Shekara writes from Government House, Sokoto.