Political rivalry, intrigues, defections and power tussle have always characterised Sokoto State politics, like elsewhere across the country.
For 15 years, Sokoto State politics has consistently been driven by rivalry between two former governors, Attahiru Bafarawa and Aliyu Wamakko. Bafarawa, who governed Sokoto on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), before defecting to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
But, following an appeal, Wamakko’s election was annulled in April 2008 on the basis that he was still a member of the ANPP when he won the PDP nomination. Abdullahi Balarabe Salame was appointed acting governor while a re-run was arranged. It was said that the contest was not so much between Wamakko and Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi of the Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP), but between Wamakko and his predecessor, Bafarawa, the founder of the DPP. In the end, Wamakko regained his seat in May 2008, following the re-run. That was how the rivalry between Bafarawa and Wamakko began.
As the two major parties, the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC), gradually begin preparations for the next general elections, indications are that the influence of the two political gladiators will shape the contest in the caliphate. Bafarawa, one of the founding fathers of the APC, left the party before the 2015 general elections to join the PDP, when his arch rival, Wamakko, enlisted for the APC.
Today, Senator Wamakko is the leader of the APC in Sokoto, while Bafarawa is the power behind Governor Aminu Tambuwal. The two key stakeholders have been battling for the control of the state.
Since the return to civil rule in 1999, Sokoto State has always struggled for a place in national politics, as the state has been governed at different times by the dominant parties. This began with the victory of Bafarawa in a joint ticket with his then deputy, Wamakko, on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) before it metamorphosed into the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
During that era, Wamakko was saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the Ministry for Local Government. A trained teacher, he carried out his duties diligently. The administration recorded landmark successes in the area of infrastructure across the state.
As usually happens between governors and their deputies, a seed of rivalry was sowed between them from the beginning. With time, the cloud of rivalry thickened and began to manifest as a kind of cold war between the two leaders and their followers. With this development, the Secretary to the State Government, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, was always taking the place of Wamakko at state functions.
At the time, Bafarawa was in stiff opposition to the PDP government at the centre under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a result, the Obasanjo administration had it tough with the then ANPP government in the caliphate. Bafarawa was always quoted in the media as criticising the PDP. Though many opposition figures were joining the party then, Bafarawa swore never to join the PDP.
As the rivalry thickened between him and his deputy, Bafarawa used his position to incapacitate Wamakko, by withdrawing all the paraphernalia of his office. Next, he tried to force Wamakko out of the party. This move was orchestrated with the support of his closest political ally, Alhaji Umaru Kwabo, who was perceived as the brain behind Bafarawa’s decisions on state matters. Wamakko’s disagreement with his boss culminated in the attempt by the 30 members of the state House of Assembly to impeach him.
Though prior to the plot, the party (ANPP) was already soaked in deep crisis, with two factions pulling the party in different directions. The Wamakko camp was claiming leadership. The Bafarawa camp, which controlled the key exco members, like Kwabo, who was the treasurer, also saw itself as the authentic faction.
The faceoff continued until Wamakko’s camp took full control of the party, including its finances; a situation that frustrated Bafarawa and his followers out of the party.
However, the impeachment process was the last stage of the battle that almost spelt doom for the state legislature. From that point, the seed of division was sown among the lawmakers. Plenary sessions became characterised by rowdiness among the 30 lawmakers, out of which only nine were loyal and ready to defend Wamakko. At a point, the lawmakers resorted to a free for all fight on the floor of the chamber, during which some legislators sustained injuries. The current Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Abdullahi Maigwandu was among the nine lawmakers loyal to Wamakko.
To neutralise the impeachment threat, Wamakko voluntarily sent a letter to the House of Assembly, voluntarily notifying the House of his resignation, which was the main thrust of his boss’s concern. Speaker Lawali Labbo Margai read the letter and it was acknowledged and accepted. The move appeared to appease Bafarawa.
Realising that he has lost in the battle for the control of the party, Bafarawa swiftly formed a new platform, the Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP). The party was launched on August 20, 2006. Following this development, Wamakko’s popularity soared, as the people of Sokoto thronged his residence for solidarity and sympathy visits from all nook and crannies of the caliphate; a development that amazed his boss, who was bent on ending his political career.
When the campaign for the 2007 general elections began, the duo never underrated each other. Bafarawa anointed Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, the Secretary to the Government (SSG), as successor on the platform of the DPP, even as pundits predicted that Umaru Kwabo would have been a better successor.
The Sultanate was never known for partisanship until the rivalry between Bafarawa and Wamakko threatened to divide the enclave. Wamakko was relentless in his ambition; with widespread acceptance and loyalty from the people.
Bafarawa to contested for presidency on the platform of his new party. Wamakko, on the other hand, joined the race for the governorship on the ticket of the ANPP.
It was expected to be a three-horse race, with Mukhtari Shehu Shagari as the standard-bearer of the PDP, Bafarawa’s anointed candidate, Dingyadi, representing the DPP and Wamakko for the ANPP. But, considering the popularity and acceptance of Wamakko, Obasanjo lured him to the PDP and he eventually replaced Shagari, who was made deputy governorship candidate. This was calculated to diminish the importance of Bafarawa, who had at different times engaged the PDP in a war of words.
Wamakko clinched the governorship seat. But, his victory was nullified by a tribunal judgement, which ordered for a fresh contest. Nevertheless, he triumphed again.
A similar scenario played out during his election for his second term; a fresh poll was conducted and he floored Bafarawa’s candidate (DPP), Yusha’u Ahmed, with wide margin.
Their paths crossed again with the merger that brought the APC into being in 2013. Having emerged as the dominant force in Sokoto politics, Wamakko ahead of 2015 general elections, singlehandedl, brought the then Speaker of the 7th National Assembly, Governor Tambuwal, to the APC, as his successor. Prior to his defection to the APC, his erstwhile boss had established himself in the party as a founding member and leader of APC. However, as Wamakko entered the party, Bafarawa, who felt betrayed by his former party’s national leaders, made his way back to the PDP.
He told reporters in his residence when a team led by former APC National Chairman, John Odigie Oyegun visited him that he cannot be on the same platform with Wamakko, who out of the blues is seeking to become his leader without joining the party from the scratch. Wamakko was a sitting governor and would naturally become the leader of the party once he comes on board.
At the meeting, Oyegun and his team pleaded with Bafarawa to accept Wamakko in the fold. But, the former governor refused, insisting that Wamakko should join from scratch and rise to become the leader of the party in Sokoto.
Wamakko joined the APC from the PDP. It was a bitter pill for the former governor who had declared publicly that he share the same platform with the then governor. Ironically, Bafarawa had never missed the opportunity to criticise the PDP throughout his tenure as a governor but he was compelled to embrace the party to remain relevant.
Political protégés of Wamakko, including Tambuwal who was then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, leveraged his defection to the APC by joining him to consolidate on their various ambitions. Tambuwal, who is adjudged to be politically unpredictable, carried a large percentage of his National Assembly colleagues along. Subsequently, Wamakko anointed him to contest in the 2015 governorship polls on the APC platform.
That was why the governor’s defection to the PDP, prior to the last general elections was widely regarded as a betrayal of his master. Currently, the unfolding political events in the caliphate are gradually deepening within the two major parties.
The APC, which is now the opposition party appears to have challenges emanating from some of its lawmakers, who ordinarily should be loyal to Wamakko, but are now causing division in the party.
For instance, two notable Sokoto lawmakers, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Aminu Manya Achida and Abdullahi Balarabe Salame of the House of Representatives have been accused of engaging in anti-party activities to reposition themselves to realise their 2023 ambitions. Their activities are undermining the personality of Senator Wamakko.
Tambuwal’s return to PDP in the buildup to 2019 polls set off a political alignment with Bafarawa. For Bafarawa, his alliance with the Wamakko’s estranged political protégé created an opportunity for him to return to dominance. That political move by Tambuwal once again reignited the political rivalry between Wamakko and Bafarawa as they both had to strategise on who would produce the governor in 2019.
PDP’s Tambuwal, with the support of Bafarawa, defeated the governorship candidate of the APC, who was Wamakko’s preferred choice.
