The Zamfara impeachment saga

It is said there is no a permanent friend or permanent enemy in politics but only permanent interest and this is exactly what we are watching unfolding in Zamfara state politics, though, it is also said no man can be his own king and that no man can do it alone. Again, a Nigerian proverb on good conducts says only a selfish human buries his faults and exposes that of his friend.

A saga that is now making the airwaves between Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state and his deputy Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed Gusau is really a sad one given the provisions of Nigerian laws and political ethics that guarantee the freedom of exery Nigerian to join any political party of his choice. But because of the governor’s interest he wants to make his deputy look like a devil just to achieve his goal of doing away with him as his deputy. 

Nigerian politicians are largely selfish and egocentric. What the governor of Zamfara state is doing to infringe the rights and freedom of his deputy is illegal as it is unconstitutional.

Just because Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed Gusau the deputy governor of Zamfara state has proven to Nigerians that politics is not about selfishness and for refusing to decamp alongside his principal from the PDP to the APC and not to disappoint his party that made him the state deputy governor, the governor is tryimg to make a black sheep. 

The refusal of Aliyu Muhammad Gusau to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) is based on constitutional rights and of political parties so his personality should not be tinte and ridiculed because his passion made him a candid and trusted leader that changed the proverb of politics that politicians can do anything that will benefit them and their families. 

Zamfara state governor and his deputy governor did not make it alone but with assistance from prominent people of Zamfara state including the father of the youngest deputy governor.

Despite the fact that their victory was given by the court the Zamfara state governor should know that many people sacrificed for them to lead the state and the two of them owed them a lot.

Like the deputy governor that has his right as a Nigerian citizen to choose his party without intimidation, Governor Matawalle jumped from one party to another and served in various political capacities. Matawalle served as a state member, state commissioner from 1999 to 2003 in the Ahmad Sani Yeriman Bakura, contested and served as State House member in 2023, decamped to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011 aspired to be the governor of the state and won but later changed to APC in 2021. With all these changes and dropping the party of his master he was not witch-hunted for all his political Maradonna. To put all his eggs in one basket, the governor of Zamfara state has been in a loggerheads with his deputy because he refused to join him in APC. 

Now, the deputy governor of Zamfara state is facing charges including breach of the constitution, abuse of office, and financial fraud and I wonder why the deputy governor who is hindered from discharging his responsibilities could commit such crimes. Mahdi isnot allowed to play his constitutional assignments even in the absence of his boss and limited to render his political affairs of the state, then why these charges if not to stir the water and beat an unwanted dog to death?

Before the charges against of the deputy governor of Zamfara state, the governor has been accused of many crimes. The PDP accused Governor Matawalle of mismanaging N31 billion security votes. PDP state deputy chairman, Professor Kabir Umar Jabaka, described Matawalle’s leadership as the worst in education, security and healthcare. It was also reported that Matawalle has a private jet, allows illegal mining in the state and frequently jets out of the state leaving his subjects at the mercy of bandits and kidnappers. 

Zamfara state governor was captured in a video sharing money with his hands to jubilating Nigerian soldiers which was an unlawful act, and now that the governor has decamped to APC, PDP members have been accusing the governor of causing public unrest and thuggery on the supporters of PDP. 

Gusau as the youngest deputy governor in Nigeria has gained large supporters. His leadership style, his trustworthiness, confidence and loyalty to his party and elders have given him a good name in Nigerian politics. His love for the people that supported him has proven his good conduct, good home charity and this attitude will surely pay him a gem prize. 

The governor of Zamfara state should know that his victory to clinch the veto power of the number one seat of the state was not his own alone but with the of his deputy and his father Aliyu Gusau. Hausa proverb says any man that doesn’t appreciate his people’s efforts cannot appreciate their  deeds no matter the amount of their sacrifice but there is a day of reckoning and reaping deeds and to me only time will surely differentiate between a saint and the devil in Zamfara state political tussle.

Auwal Ahmed Ibrahim Goronyo,
Kaduna
[email protected]