Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
A former governor of Sokoto and Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, has said the recent defection of his successor in office, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from APC, would not affect the party victory in the State.
He said that in a matter of days, Nigerians would know who is really in charge of Sokoto State.
Wamakko also affirmed that the state remains entirely an All Progressives Congress (APC) state which is solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking through his media aide, Bashir Rabe Mani while reacting to Wednesday’s defection of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wamakko said the purported crowd that converged at the governor’s rally should be considered a ‘mere joke’.
According to him, “Whatever crowd you might have seen or told, just take it as a mere story.
“As a matter of principle, it is not in my character to abuse people, but, what I am assuring is that, Sokoto state is an APC state.”
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The Senator assured that there was no cause for alarm adding, “but, I pity my younger brother, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. He is a very promising young politician, with full potentials.
“But, maybe something else is guiding his decision. This is the worst decision he has taken in his life.
“At his age, he should not be in a hurry. He is a fine young politician. I have a lot of respect for him.
“If he had taken the consideration of the people he is representing, the people of Sokoto State, seriously, he would not have gone into the PDP.
“The people of the state are also solidly behind me, other Senators, other House of Representatives members and elders who have chosen to remain in the APC,” Wamakko assured.
The former governor further recalled that Governor Tambuwal was part of the team that dumped the PDP in 2015, but noted that, there is nothing about PDP as a party now.
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He expressed hope that Tambuwal would rescind his decision and come back to the APC.
According to him, the recent gale of defections at the National Assembly had not made the APC a minority party at both the chambers of the Assembly, contrary to the general assumptions of Nigerians.
Wamakko further opined the defections were a good omen for the party and that it the APC currently conducting stock-taking.
He promised that most of the defectors were trying to come back into its fold, adding, ”in the next few days or months, Nigerians would be surprised how the APC is going to fare.”
Wamakko also averred the current flurry of defections were common since the return of democracy in 1999, saying, “parties making realignments and mergers is just normal.
“That is the beauty of democracy. People should be given the freedom to be where they want to be . It is nothing unusual.”
However, the State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, seven House of Representatives members, 12 other members of the State House of Assembly and hundreds of thousands of other people in the state have vowed to remain in the APC.