As the political temperature in Sokoto State hots up ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries, our state correspondent, Bello Gusau, examines the twists and turns of politics in the seat of the Caliphate, where the incumbent governor is locked in battle against two top politicians in the state.Just as political parties in Sokoto State are busy conducting primaries in preparation for the state's gubernatorial elections scheduled to hold on 10 March, 2012, the main issue on the political burner in the state remains how the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will conduct its primaries and who will emerge at the end of the day. This is because the party is practically a two-in-one, having merged successfully with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) ahead of the 2007 election.But the concern over the PDP primaries in Sokoto is much more than that. The party is not only the ruling or the largest party in the state, it is also parading three bigwig aspirants including the current governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, former Senator Abubakar Umar Gada and the immediate past minister of sports, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman. Besides that are some factors both open and hidden about the contest centred on the brewing crisis between members of the old and new PDP. There are also the forces propelling each of the three aspirants as well as the new dimension added to the contest with the entry into the race of the former sports minister which more than ever before, made the Sultanate council of Sokoto a factor to the emergence of the party's flag-bearer among other things.Before now, in fact up till the time of the 2011 primary elections in the state, the discomfort between the two factions in Sokoto PDP was not clearly visible. This was because Governor Wamakko and his deputy, Barrister Muktar Shehu Shagari, were returned unopposed as standard-bearer and running mate of the party for the state gubernatorial election during the initial primary election. The members of the party only observed the requirement of the party's constitution to attend the venue of the primaries to cast their votes in favour of the state governor even as he had no challenger at the then primaries. However, now some months after that, the governor is being challenged by two opponents all of whom are of the old PDP in the state.Following the ruling of the federal High Court, Abuja which further elongated the tenure of the governors whose elections were voided and re-elected, including Wamakko, the 100 per cent stability, enjoyed by the governor in the party, came under a serious challenge by members of the old PDP. The reason for this was the resultant effect of the outcome of the 2011 PDP primaries during which three aspirants who were of the old PDP inclusive of Senator Gada failed to retain the party tickets for National Assembly (NASS) elections.The PDP aspirants hinged their fate to the alleged failure by the governor to use his position and ensure their victory at the primaries. But political observers said the circumstances behind the travails of the aspirants were beyond the governor as it was something that had to do with the disposition of the aspirants to the people in their respective constituencies. They said this could be attested to in the results of the primaries for the Sokoto-East senatorial district where the then incumbent Senator Gada scored a paltry 61 votes while his rival, Abdullahi Ibrahim Gobir, scored 1,560 votes to clinch the party's ticket.It was the view of the pundits that the failed PDP aspirants were victims of a cleansing exercise by members of the Sokoto PDP in their bid to rid the party of people who were not well disposed to the welfare of the people. They stated that the PDP supporters who were in the majority in the state were worried over some members of the party who held positions in government both at the state and national levels but who were not forth-coming when it came to solving personal problems of the members of the party.This, it was further learnt, was why members of the party had been trooping to the personal residence of Governor Wamakko at Gawon-Nama area of Sokoto metropolis to seek his assistance over problems some as low as N5,000. Other political office holders and politicians in their areas could not cater for those needs.The Friday Edition was told that as the problem continued the governor resolved at several public occasions to appeal to the political office holders to come to his aid and cater for the peoples' needs. It was also learnt that many of the people had already resolved to deal with politicians who held elective offices by stalling their bids to re-contest on the platform of the PDP in the state. This resolve was the last resort by the people of the state who realized that the governor would hardly fire political appointees serving under him for fear that by his opponents could use them to their advantage at his re-election.However, the disgruntled Senator Gada who saw his failure as the making of the state governor and by extension the members of the new PDP led by the governor, decided to challenge the stability enjoyed by the governor in the party by throwing his hart into the ring for the gubernatorial primary fixed for 17 December.Because Gada is known to be very close to President Goodluck Jonathan, the governor's camp became apprehensive over what might be the fate of the incumbent governor in particular and the Sokoto PDP in general.This was more so, in view of the fact that the old PDP members in the state were said to be reporting the governor to Aso Rock villa and the national headquarters of the PDP over complaints of their perceived marginalization by the governor.The first complaints, which dated back to when the late president, Umaru Yar'Adua, was alive, had been the composition of Wamakko's cabinet which the old PDP members claimed was one-sided. The governor, sometime last year, during a Ramadan dinner organised by the state government for working journalists in Sokoto held at Government Lodge 1, Sokoto, confirmed that he was reported to the national headquarters of the party over his alleged marginalization of old PDP members in the composition of his cabinet.He said he showed them a list of 18 commissioners and 18 special advisers that were made up of eight old and eight new PDP members respectively. He even debunked the insinuation that there were old and new PDP members in the state saying that there was only one Sokoto PDP with him as the leader in the state.Our sources said in their avowed determination to convince the presidency on the alleged marginalization of the old PDP members by the state government, Senator Gada and the PDP elites who were, in other words, known as Abuja politicians, had used the election results that were not favourable to the three PDP aspirants who were of the old PDP as an example of why the presidency should believe the allegations of marginalisation of old PDP members by governor Wamakko. President Jonathan was said not to believe the insinuations by the old PDP members in spite of his closeness with Gada. The sources said the president's action was as a result of the fact that he was keen on the support of Wamakko towards his emergence as the PDP national standard bearer at the then upcoming party's national convention. The president, who was being challenged by former vice president Atiku Abubakar in a contest that was predicated on the zoning principle of the PDP which many in the North felt was the turn of the north to complete the remaining four years of the late Umaru Yar'Adua, needed the support of especially governors of northern states - the region where Abubakar hails from. So, he decided to give Wamakko the benefit of doubt.However, in spite of all assurances said to be given to the president by the governor, the Sokoto delegates to the national convention polled 118 votes in favour of Abubakar with only 31 votes in support of Jonathan. Soon after counting, the PDP elites were said to have started transmitting 'You see' text messages to PDP big-wigs at the venue of the convention. The political pundits in the state however, had a contrary view. They said the political history of the state repeated itself in terms of the attitude of Sokoto delegates to national conventions of political parties. They said the state delegates to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 when the then state governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa was the national caretaker committee chairman of the party, refused to follow instructions to vote for his political associate, Chief Rochas Okorocha whom he promised to help actualise his ambition of becoming president in the 2003 general elections. In order for the former governor to prepare Okorocha well for the nation's number one seat, he lobbied the late Sultan Muhammadu Maccido to honour him with the title of Dan Jekan Sokoto. That notwithstanding, the Sokoto ANPP delegates overwhelmingly voted against Chief Rochas Okorocha.However, in a way that appeared to look like an effort by the governor to absolve himself of the anti-Jonathan stance, he made sure that the president secured more than 25 per cent of the total votes cast in Sokoto during the 2011 presidential elections. The results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari scored 540,769 votes while the PDP's Jonathan scored 309,057 votes which was 29 per cent of the votes cast in the state. It was learnt that the governor managed to do this through tactical means in such a way not to incur the wrath of the people of the state during his re-election.One factor that was to break the camel's back regarding the allegations against Wamakko was the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who represents Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in Sokoto State, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in June. His emergence was against the zoning principle of the PDP as the party had already allocated the seat to the South West.So, following his emergence, the PDP national headquarters and the presidency were said to be unhappy and they thus felt as one of the party stalwarts in the country, Governor Wamakko was supposed to prevail on Tambuwal to drop the position but he was said not to have done that a situation that appeared to have fanned the embers of hatred against him by the presidency and PDP national headquarters. And this was said to place the old PDP members in a position to have their way at the presidency and at the PDP national headquarters to plan for the disqualification of the governor to contest primaries of the party in the belief that that was the only thing that could guarantee the emergence of one of the two old PDP members as the standard-bearer of the party. Before the entry of the immediate past minister of sports, the governor had only Senator Gada, whose connection to the presidency had been a source of concern for Wamakko to contend with.Senator Gada is being seen as someone who enjoys the backing of President Jonathan who is believed to be hell-bent on dealing with the Sokoto governor. It was even alleged that in doing so, the president were working with former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Gada whose inputs as insiders of Sokoto politics was being used to plot the end of Wamakko's administration in the state. Those who hold this view cited the attendance of the wedding ceremony of daughters of Bafarawa by Gada sometime in November after which he (Gada) addressed a press conference to declare his intention to vie for the governorship ticket of the PDP.The factors propelling Gada are believed to be the power of incumbency of President Jonathan as well as his avowed determination to avenge what is believed to be injustice meted out against him by the Sokoto governor at the 2011 PDP primary in the state. However, the political profile of Gada within the PDP vis--vis the support of members of the party, both at his senatorial zone and the state in general, is believed to be weak points that could work against him at the primary.The entry of former Minister of Sports, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, into the race has added a new dimension to the contest of the party's primary in particular and gubernatorial elections of the state in general. The first reason for this is that he was a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) having served earlier as minister of transport and later reassigned to the sports ministry as well as the fact that he is a prince of the Sultanate Council of Sokoto.The Friday Edition also gathered that some insinuations are rife that the fact that he was a minister under president Jonathan who resigned his appointment to contest the Sokoto PDP gubernatorial primary smirked of the likely involvement of the presidency in his decision to vie for the Sokoto gubernatorial seat. This, more than ever before, seemed to confirm the fear of the resolve by the presidency to deal with governor Wamakko. In a way, this further reinforces the claims that the presidency and national headquarters of the PDP were planning to screen Wamakko out of the contest over allegations of anti-party activities as it happened to the governor of Bayelsa State. The bid by the immediate past minister seemed to suggest a huge battle involving the trio of the old Sokoto PDP members, the national headquarters of the party and the presidency against Wamakko.However, Wamakko's clearance to contest the primary appears to indicate that he has been left off the hook of the Sylva treatment. This follows recent assurances given the governor by the president and PDP governors in the country that they were in support of his candidature. The Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who stated this recently when he paid a courtesy call on Wamakko at the Sokoto Government House, said PDP as a family had identified with the Sokoto governor because he was providing services to the people of Sokoto and had been able to ensure peace in the state.The second and more serious factor regarding the joining of the Sokoto PDP gubernatorial race by Suleiman is the family he belongs to which is an off-shoot of the Sultan Muhammadu Bello dynasty of the Sokoto Caliphate which is now known as the Sultanate council of Sokoto. His biological antecedents made him a prince of the Sultanate having come from the Isa royal house. The father of the late Sarkin Gobir of Isa, the late Shehu Malami Ahmed, and the father of Yusuf Suleiman were cousins. But their royal house, though a branch of the Sultan Bello dynasty has never ruled the Sultanate. The attempt made by former governor Bafarawa to appoint a royal member of Yusuf family, in fact his junior brother, Ahmed Suleiman Isa, who served as permanent secretary in the state ministry of finance under the Bafarawa- led administration after the death of Maccido in 1996, was resisted by the Sultan Muzu branch of the Sultan Bello dynasty.It is instructive to note that before the advent of the fourth republic, the Sultanate council of Sokoto was not involved in partisan politics. Past Sultans played the role of royal fathers who were neutral to all politicians. However, this was to change during the eight year rule of ANPP administration in the state following the segmentation of the power of the late Sultan Maccido with the creation of 24 district areas and subsequent appointment of district heads for the areas inclusive of the father of the former governor, late Alhaji Dalhatu Usman who was appointed the Sarkin Gabas of Bafarawa. In addition, there was the allegation of starvation of funds suffered by the Sultanate council under that administration. This generated misunderstanding between the late Sultan and the former governor Bafarawa to a level where the former governor attempted to depose Maccido from the position of Sultan.The attempt by the former governor did not succeed as former president Olusegun Obasanjo refused to oblige the governor the opportunity to carry out his wish. And this pitched the former governor and the late Sultan against each other. The people of Sokoto who were keenly watching the development felt for the late Sultan who was then about 80 years old seeing how Bafarawa treated him as unfair especially on account of his being someone who was well disposed to the former governor. Wamakko, who was Bafarawa's deputy at that time but was denied the opportunity to seek the state ANPP's governorship ticket cashed in on the situation and got himself closer to the late Sultan.And Sokoto people who were abreast of the political development in the state and who loved the late Sultan very well turned their attention to Wamakko as the preferred successor to Bafarawa.The Sultan died in an ADC plane crash in October 2006 but the people of Sokoto remained supportive of the person whom they believed the late Sultan wanted to replace Bafarawa. Observers said it was in view of this that the former governor attempted to work out the appointment of Ahmed Suleiman as the 20th Sultan of Sokoto being someone he trusted very well but the move was soon to be opposed by the Muzu branch of the Bello dynasty. Thus, the current Sultan Sad Abubakar who was a younger brother of the late Maccido finally emerged as the 20th Sultan. The people of Sokoto continued their opposition against the Bafarawa led administration up till the point where he abandoned the ANPP for the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) on which platform he contested the 2007 presidential election but lost to the late Umar Musa Yardua of the PDP.To Sokoto people, the fact that the new Sultan, who served for thirty years in the military knew the way the Bafarawa administration treated his late brother was an indication that he(Sultan) would support the emergence of a PDP candidate. The people thus supported the state PDP which at that time had Wamakko as its Sokoto standard-bearer.Soon after he was sworn-in, the governor gave the Sultan full authority over Sultanate council funds and empowered him to hire and fire traditional rulers serving under him. And as part of moves to repay the good-will he enjoyed from the late Sarkin Gobir of Isa, the governor relieved the late Sarkin Gabas of his title and appointed Alhaji Bunu Hassan as the new Sarkin Gabas and moved the base of the title holder from Bafarawa to Gebe town where the title originated. All along, the people of Isa were not happy at the way the title was given to the Bafarawa'family. And it was on record, that the late Sarkin Gobir of Isa and the Sarkin Gobir of Gwadabawa were two traditional rulers who came out openly and supported Wamakko's bid to be governor of the state. Also as compensation, the eldest son of the Sarkin Gabas of Gwadabawa, Rt. Hon Muhammadu Lawal Zayyana is the current speaker, Sokoto House of Assembly.With the coming into the race of the former sports minister, there abound speculations that Sultan Sad was behind the candidature of Suleiman because the two of them are cousins. However, there were other speculations stating that there was no way the Sultan could sponsor someone to be governor whom at the end of the day would use his position to plan for the actualization of the dream of his royal family of breaking the jinx to be Sultan of Sokoto.Other sources who described the entry of Suleiman into the race as akin to a 'suicidal plunge' said he might have been prodded on by General Aliyu Gusau, whose faction of the PDP in Zamfara is believed to be at loggerheads with governor Wamakko. Before now, many had seen the Minister as the anointed successor of Wamakko in 2015. There is the fear that his entry at this point could however jeopardize that proposition.Others however are of the view that the entry of the former Minister could be a plot to break the closeness between Wamakko and the Sultan and thus pave way for the emergence of Suleiman as the next governor. However, a similar attempt made by Bafarawa recently to sell the candidature of the state governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Isa Bajini Galadanci, a former member of the Sultanate council of Sokoto who doubled as district head of Durbawa, failed.Political observers say if history is anything to go by, royal families of the Sultanate council of Sokoto could not be governor of the state. They said if that was something that was possible, the deposed Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki would have been the first executive governor of the state in 1979 on the platform of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria.Although, Yusuf Suleiman is reputed to be well disposed to the plight of the people, observers said, he was yet to build the needed political clout to defeat the incumbent governor at the primaries and eventually become the governor of the state. Sources had it that before he ventured into the state governorship race, he was the only PDP elite who had the good-will of Wamakko as his successor in 2015 but with the present development, that good-will, it was feared, is no more.Governor Wamakko on the other hand has more advantage over the remaining two aspirants as he controlled the entire party structure across the state. Besides, he has massive grass-roots support that is based on the policy thrust of his led administration which is about human capital development. In addition, there are other 17 registered political parties in the state said to be rooting for him. With the way things stand in the PDP in Sokoto, many would be quick to declare that the incumbent governor stands the best chance at the party's primary against other contestants and equally stands a good chance of securing victory at the gubernatorial election in March.
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