By Adamu Waziri
Some prowling forces, notably the Sokoto State Chapter of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former governor Aminu Tambuwal, are afraid of the sterling governance trajectory of Governor Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State, despite the multi-hued challenging hurdles placed in his path by the former to ensure that he fails.
Before now, former governor Tambuwal had allegedly hidden behind contrived proxies to unleash mayhem in his very laughable, harebrained governance derailment project until his media aide, Shafi’u Tureta, exposed him. Former governor Tambuwal has no doubt misread his quarry -Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s remarkable focus and indomitable spirit to succeed in his assignment.
According to Rahul Gandhi, a prominent Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, “A rising tide doesn’t raise people who don’t have a boat. We have to build the boat for them. We must give them the basic infrastructure to rise with the tide.”
Gandhi has a philosophical soul-mate in Governor Sokoto, who was overwhelmingly elected by the development-hungry people of Sokoto State to fundamentally alter their story of a near-failed state that suffered stagnation in every sector due to the lack of leadership during the eight years of Tambuwal. Former governor Aminu Tambuwal was an absentee ruler who ruled the state from Abuja because of his presidential ambition.
Governor Sokoto has remained focused despite the distraction by the PDP and the likes of Professor Ishaq Akintola on building a boat for Sokoto people so that when the tide rises, it will raise his folks and change their story for good. But no; some disgruntled, defeated and churlish forces would have none. They are opposed to a transformational leader whose service delivery has exposed them as a huge fraud. Unfortunately, the media that should have seen through these regressive shenanigans have surprisingly been hoodwinked by the retrogressive forces.
Last week, Tureta, an aide to Senator Tambuwal, was justifiably remanded in a correctional facility by a court of competent jurisdiction for injuring the reputation of Governor Sokoto, on Facebook and not for insulting him. Insults come with the job, but not the hard-earned reputation of elected public servants or their families. Contrary to the falsehood by the Tambuwal camp, Tureta is not a civil rights activist, but the special assistant on local and digital media to Tambuwal, currently a senator representing Sokoto South Senatorial District.
The Nigerian Police Force’s first information report (FIR), shows that the police appropriately charged Tureta with circulating injurious falsehood and engraving matter known to be defamatory, which contravenes the Penal Code. It must be stressed that despite Tureta’s extremely provocative Facebook posts, Governor Sokoto, being a peaceful man, duly and procedurally, only reported him to the police and there is no evidence whatsoever that he was attacked by supporters of the government.
While Tureta has made several malicious and salacious allegations against Governor Ahmad Sokoto, he has cleverly refused to disclose that his real grouse with the governor is the governor’s purchase of rice worth N14 billion for distribution to the people of Sokoto State instead of flying private jets like his mentor did throughout his years as governor. The word N14 billion is highly offensive to Tambuwal’s camp because that’s the same amount of pension gratuities that Tambuwal left unpaid and which Governor Ahmad Sokoto has commenced payment.
Tureta has tried to make an issue of the governor not being fluent in the English language, which is not an issue worth reacting to considering that the main language of communication with the Sokoto State people is Hausa and Governor Ahmad Sokoto has not been found wanting. And there is no evidence of the governor being unable to express himself. However, behind every crime, there is usually a motive. And the motive behind the hate posts by Tureta is to pitch the people against the performing governor. The question is why should a humble aide put himself in the line of fire for a mass of porridge? That’s a question that only Tureta can answer. But so far Tambuwal hasn’t abandoned him, as his lawyers have been drafted to defend him.
By unwittingly reducing himself to mere cannon fodder for obviously bigger background players, Tureta should condemn himself to the consequences he would face if found guilty. This would no doubt be a warning to other critics not to impugn the character of the governor in their constitutionally guaranteed right to expression. Tureta’s claim of ignorance of the law is not an excuse. The opposition PDP in Sokoto State is sadly missing the point in quickly mounting a defence for Tureta’s malfeasance because posting the governor’s video is not a crime. The crime is the digital manipulation of an old video to serve his purpose. And this is a crime.
Hassan Sahabi Sanyinnawal, Sokoto PDP spokesperson, who has been waxing lyrical singing the praise of Tureta should go read the Cybercrime Act. Perhaps most surprisingly, Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement recently called for the “unconditional release” of the aide, and unfortunately described the arrest as “unacceptable”.
According to Amnesty, “This surge in human rights violations by the Sokoto State Government is unacceptable and must end now.” This allegation is unsubstantiated and unfair for a respected human rights organization to leap into the fray without researching its position. Amnesty’s falsehoods must be rejected. It has unfortunately allowed itself to be dragged into defending a politician who is not by any stretch of the imagination an activist.
Not many will forget in a hurry that since a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, now the current Chief Justice of Nigeria, dismissed the appeal filed against Governor Aliyu’s victory by the PDP, and its governorship candidate, Saidu Umar, and affirmed the election of Governor Sokoto in January, the opposition PDP has sworn to make life extremely difficult for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). It has been a one-way war, after another with the APC at the receiving end.
According to the very articulate Alhaji Sambo Bello Danchadi, Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Sokoto State: “I must confess that the previous administration programmed Governor Ahmad Sokoto to fail, but because he came adequately prepared and being someone with abiding faith in God, he has remained undaunted. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto was denied the benefit of a handover note so that he would not hit the ground running. There were sufficient obstacles to ensure that the governor didn’t function. For instance, the government house was in total darkness because the Tambuwal administration owed the Kaduna Electricity Company”.
“The people also couldn’t enjoy public water supply because the Aminu Tambuwal administration refused to pay. The governor had to make emergency arrangements for the restoration of the water supply and the restoration of the public power supply to the government house. The former administration equally left an N4 billion pension and a gratuity liability, which again the governor is tackling headlong. Our students in higher institutions were equally affected due to the refusal of the former administration to pay their tuition. Many of the schools threatened to stop them from writing their examinations until the governor intervened”.
“He also ensured that power was restored to the government house, the ministries and the water corporation. He equally made an undertaking to offset the outstanding fees, which enabled the students to write their examinations,” Danchadi stated in an interview published by Blueprint on August 27, 2024.
There is a huge linkage between this painful loss by the PDP and so many clandestine plots to derail Governor Aliyu’s commendable governance trajectory. The diversionary attacks on Governor Sokoto are contrived and misdirected, especially against the background of his proactive governance footing.
He has deployed uncommon creativity and foresight in ensuring that the 13 most troubled local government areas around Sokoto State boundary with Zamfara are safe. The core reality is that Governor Aliyu, like the other governors, is a chief security officer merely going by the label with absolutely no control over security agencies. Until governors are constitutionally unchained to take charge of their jurisdictions security-wise, all the talk about effectively securing their territories would remain just talk.
Governor Ahmad Sokoto in reaction to the deteriorating security situation which he inherited from Tambuwal’s administration swiftly established the Sokoto State Community Guard Corps to complement the federal security agencies in safeguarding the terrorised communities. And being indigenes of the areas of their deployment, the corps was specifically charged to help the security agencies in gathering intelligence, a critical part of the war against terrorism. Recently five of the corps members were murdered in cold blood by the terrorists.
It’s strange that in the morning of the 21st century, many Nigerian state actors, especially the opposition political forces are blissfully unaware that the security challenges need to be addressed by everyone. Governor Ahmad Sokoto needs the support of all Sokoto stakeholders, including the opposition, to refloat Sokoto’s boat. His detractors must sheathe their swords.
*Waziri is a public affairs analyst and writes from Sokoto
