Like other governors sworn in on May 29, 2023, to lead the various states of the federation, Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, is just a few months into the second year of the four-year tenure constitutionally guaranteed for governors. However, unlike other governors, he seems to be facing the worst of political opposition by leaders and agents of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state with plots activated to destabilize his smooth sail on leadership and present him before Nigerians, and people of the state, as incompetent and unsuitable to govern. The plots began with the recruitment of destructive voices that were made to use the governor’s effort to streamline the process of appointment of district chiefs and village heads to make administration of that level of governance responsive to the state, as the peg of an orchestrated campaign of calumny against the governor. The governor’s visionary effort in this regard was deliberately interpreted as an attempt to depose the Sultan. It turned out to be a hoax raised by the opposition to create the grounds for the destabilisation of the state and erode the good intentions of Governor Sokoto.
The failure of that effort suggests that the governor is more adept at his task. But, the opposition would not have any of it. The opposition in Sokoto state is led by Senator Aminu Tambuwal; and rightly, so. Tambuwal had been a member of the House of Representatives where he was picked by his peers to become the speaker. After that opportunity, he returned to Sokoto to become the governor. However, he played a terrible political game which made it possible for the people of the state to settle for Aliyu Sokoto as their governor. Lest we forget, Aliyu Sokoto was at a time, deputy governor to Tambuwal. He also served the state as a Commissioner. Somehow, divine providence positioned him to become governor against Tambuwal’s wish. He had to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) after Tambuwal allegedly frustrated his vision of joining in the race to elect someone with the capacity to lead Sokoto state into a new era of development.
While Tambuwal was engrossed with his fruitless chase of the presidential ticket of PDP, he failed to put his feet on the ground at home. He, however, made a last-minute withdrawal from the race for the presidential ticket of PDP when it became obvious that he stood no chance. The odds also did not favour him to plant a surrogate as successor in Sokoto. He was only able to find his way around to get into the Senate of the Federal Republic. Meanwhile, the vacuum his futile interest in the presidential ticket of PDP created in the organisation and leadership of the state PDP became the fulcrum that propelled Aliyu Sokoto to the governorship of the state with the very strong backing of Senator Aliyu Wammako, who is now celebrated as diminishing Tambuwal’s perceived value and importance to the politics and leadership of Sokoto state.
No one expects that having lost power to Gov. Sokoto, PDP, and its leaders, would fold their arms. However, it was expected that rather than seek avenues and means of throwing spanner in the works for the governor, the party ought to withdraw to a retreat to re-examine its leaders and tell them the truth with bold faces. One of the bitter truths that PDP members in Sokoto ought to tell their leader was graciously made easy for them by the Commissioner for Information in the state, Alhaji Sambo Bello Danchadi, in an interview published in the Blueprint of August 23, 2024, and titled “Governor Aliyu Sokoto is inspiring, a goal-getter”. In the interview, the Information Commissioner dutifully informed Nigerians that problems of development of Sokoto state were mostly created by Tambuwal’s decision to be a “visiting governor” in the eight years he reigned over the state. Hear him: “It is an open secret that Tambuwal was a visiting governor to the state. He visited when he had an appointment and sometimes the plane to take him back to Abuja would be waiting for him. And this affected governance. A leader must be around the people to understand their needs and to listen to them… The only thing that ever kept Tambuwal in Sokoto was the COVID-19 pandemic. He couldn’t travel anywhere because of the lockdown, otherwise every single week he was out. Hopefully, the amount of public funds that was recklessly used in financing his trips would be revealed by some determined journalists.”
Perhaps, this is the difference between Tambuwal and his successor, Aliyu Sokoto, who rarely leaves the state except when duty calls. Living with the people one leads has its way of opening a leader to the developmental realities that the people face rather than creating a leadership that keeps the leader far removed from the people and also creating in him a mindset that leadership is about personal privileges. As Commissioner Danchadi said, “Governor Sokoto is always on ground, and is accessible to the people.”
This differentiating leadership style may be the reason Governor Sokoto has been able to feel the pain of the people over unpaid pensions and gratuities and irregular payment of monthly salaries by his predecessor. Governor Sokoto is now being celebrated by the people of Sokoto as a leader who listens, one who feels their pulse and heartbeats as well as one who makes efforts to address pressing development needs including the construction of major roads in the state. “In the area of road construction, several roads have been constructed; Binji road, Sahara area, Gawon Nama, Ramen Kura and Old Market. Equally, in areas of urban renewal, Governor Sokoto has pencilled Tudun Wada for complete renewal and in the area of housing, 500 units have been built at Wajake in Wamako Local Government area. There are some other roads that have been constructed. Currently, the state government has awarded the contract for the construction of roads in Gudu, Tangaza, Tambuwal, and Dange-Shuni Local Governments amongst many others. This administration has also awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the Tambuwal/Kepe road and the bridge which had almost collapsed as well as the ongoing construction of the Silame bridge,” Danchadi said in the interview.
There is much more that Danchadi disclosed in that interview. From it, it could be easily argued that Tambuwal did not meet the development expectations of the people of Sokoto state in the eight years he ruled. Some people say that he left the people more disappointed than he met them. He probably was not the transformational leader that Sokoto people thought he was. Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto may be on his way to filling that vacuum. This is probably the reason PDP in the state is leaving no stone unturned in seeking to derail his transformational mission to the state. However, he dusts them with his performance and capacity to deliver good governance to the state. Like they say, the outcome of good governance, like pregnancy, cannot be hidden. It reflects on the society and the lives of the people. As it is, most people in Sokoto toast Governor Aliyu Sokoto’s leadership. According to them, he has thus far impacted more positively on the state than Tambuwal’s eight years. This is why Sokoto PDP is not smiling, but kicking badly.