The sweet wine of power can be dangerously intoxicating. It makes the head cloudy, warped and giddy. One of the oft illusionary results is that pride, which comes before a fall, sets in.
With the verdict of the Supreme Court last Monday that put paid to the cravings and titanic struggle of Senator Aliyu Wamakko to wrest the governorship of Sokoto state from incumbent Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of the PDP for his political crony, Ahmed Aliyu of APC, it is almost certain that the political career of Senator Wamakko may have taken an irreversible downward trend from the height of relevance, power and authority.
Senator Aliyu Wamakko came to political limelight in 2007 when he was elected governor of Sokoto state after defeating Alhaji Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, candidate of then outgoing governor, Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa. The phenomenal feat by Wamakko, a hitherto obscure political entity, was largely as a result of a spectrum of support generated by a cross section of the political elite and the traditional institution, by the Sultanate. But for that convergence of such centers of power, Wamakko was a minion and no match in the contest with Bafarawa’s political structure. Alas, far into his reign or political power as governor, he forgot that it was neither his influence, political sagacity nor wealth that catalysed his triumph in the historic election.
At the zenith of his power, then governor Wamakko became antagonistic towards most individuals and interests whose support and goodwill catapulted him to the Olympian height. For example, he became antagonistic towards the Sultanate, precisely, his Eminence Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III. It got so bad that in the buildup to the 2019 elections, one of the campaign refrains at rallies was: “Sabon Gwamna Sabon Sarki” meaning, a new governor, a new sultan. An unmistakable declaration of intent to dethrone the sultan, in the event of their victory; APC was clearly shooting itself in the feet. It was a fatal mistake because, the people of Sokoto revere the sultanate and would not tolerate any actions to disparage or bring the institution to disrepute. Amazingly, Wamakko soon forgot that, in fact, the abrasive hostility of Attahiru Bafarawa towards his Eminence late Sultan Mohammed Maccido was the main factor that led to the mass resentment of the outgoing governor. His victory was therefore not as such due to the love the people had for him against their love for Bafarawa.
In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan had decided to scuttle the second term bid of then governors Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa state and Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, because Jonathan was not happy that Sokoto delegates to PDP presidential primary of that year voted against him in favour of Atiku Abubakar. That was one of the reasons the president asked his then Minister of Sports, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, to resign and contest the governorship of Sokoto. Wamakko was rattled by the president’s opposition to his desire to run for a second term. While Wamakko eventually succeeded in clinching PDP gubernatorial ticket, the resentment of him by Jonathan was such that Governor Wamakko, contrary to the practice of PDP, was never given the privilege and honour of nominating ministers appointed from Sokoto. Dr. Haliru Alhassan, then Minister of State, Health, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, then Minister of Youths and Social Development and Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, Minister of Transport, were nominees of the Sultan and not Wamakko as governor.
Jonathan failed with regards to his plans for Sokoto, essentially because of the actions and support Wamakko had in the trio of Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, then Attorney now APC National Vice Chairman North-west, Senator Umaru Dahiru and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, then Speaker, House of Representatives. Despite the open secret that he was surreptitiously opposed to his emergence as speaker, Tambuwal, in his magnanimity and consideration for the superior interest of Sokoto state, accepted to work towards ensuring a second term ticket for the embattled Wamakko. Using his influence as the nation’s number four political figure, Tambuwal went to work with Inuwa Abdulkadir to influence the selection of Nyesom Wike, then Minister of State, Education, to supervise conduct of the Sokoto governorship primary that saw the emergence of Wamakko in 2011 as the party’s flag-bearer.
In his character trait, Wamakko was later to reciprocate the gesture of Inuwa Abdulkadir, Umaru Dahiru and Tambuwal by going against their political interest, indeed, for their jugulars. For example, while Dahiru ended up in a grueling legal battle with him, Wamakko has been spearheading the campaign to get Abdulkadir removed as APC North-west national vice chairman.
The case of Wamakko and Abdulkadir is illustrative of the person of the former when it comes to reciprocating kind gestures. Then the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Inuwa Abdulkadir did all the legal bulwark and networking that sustained the embattled governor as well as staving-off many attempts to remove him. Those of us close to the party and government can also testify to the role of Tambuwal, Inuwa and Dahiru in getting the otherwise political neophyte or “Local Champion” to high-tech political complexities at the national stage. In fact, Inuwa Abdulkadir was the single link used by Wamakko to Late Umaru Shinkafi, Marafan Sokoto who, in turn, used his influence to get Wamakko embraced by the Sultanate.
In 2019 elections and in furtherance of his posturing as “political godfather”, “the alpha and omega of politics in Sokoto”, Wamakko embarked on a scorch earth battle to unseat Governor Tambuwal. Besides his lingering discomfort with the rising profile of Tambuwal, Wamakko was also working in league with then governor and a former governor in neighbouring states in advancement of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition and designs. A second tenure of Tambuwal was correctly perceived as detrimental to the project. Thus, the stupendous sums of money expended in APC’s extravagant campaign and the litigation that followed. The funding, it is said in knowledgeable circles, came from sources in Kebbi, Zamfara and Lagos.
In spite of all the frenzy, desperation and humongous money sank into the battle for Sokoto in 2019, Wamakko was rejected and failed to realise his cherished goal of wresting the governorship from Tambuwal. The failure and final fall of Wamakko can, in a nutshell, be explained on the fact that he went into the battle virtually alone without those levers he had used in his elevation in the first instance. The people of Sokoto proved to Wamakko and all those that believed that he was Sokoto and Sokoto was him; that it takes much more than money and grandstanding to win their hearts and votes.
Majema writes from Hanun Kwana, Majema Tudun Wada, Sokoto.
