The Moment (London)
Garba Muhammad
17 December 2011
Sokoto — GOVERNOR Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State literally came back from seeming political death to win 100 per cent of the valid votes cast during the governorship primaries of the ruling Peoples Democratic party (PDP), Saturday December 17..
Wamakko, who had previously been rumoured to be in the bad books of President Goodluck Jonathan and in danger of being disqualified, easily coasted to victory when his two major challengers, Senator Abubakar Umar Gada and former Sports Minister Yusuf Sulaiman boycotted the primaries.
Sulaiman had resigned as minister only weeks ago, boasting of how he would trounce Wamakko.
But the reverse was the case after he and Gada appeared to have been intimidated out of the race.
Sources said the two frontline aspirants who were earlier cleared by the Sahabi Yahaya-led North West Screening Committee accused Governor Wamakko of handpicking delegates who are loyal to him from the 23 local government areas in the state to vote in the primaries.
‘We are not satisfied with the exercise and I can assure you that the entire exercise is a sham and would be challenged in court.
‘Few days ago, Wamakko refused to allow the state party congress to hold. He just selected those that are loyal to him and gave them money to vote in his favour today,’ some PDP members loyal to Gada and Sulaiman told The Moment On Sunday at Giginya Square, venue of the primaries.
But reacting to the claims by the aggrieved aspirants and their supporters, Senator Joseph Kennedy Waku, a PDP chieftain who was at the primaries as observer, said the boycott is of no effect and ‘personal.’
‘The system cannot stop because an individual did not want it. The system must continue and the individual can only work hard to change the system,’ Waku stated.
Honourable Lawal Muhammad Zaiyyana, Speaker, Sokoto State House of Assembly, commended the electoral committee for taking a bold step to conduct a free and peaceful election.
He described the boycott by Gada and Sulaiman as an act of cowardice by those who had lost hope.
‘I want to assure you that these same contestants who refused to participate in the primaries will end up going to court to contest the conduct because I believe these are the reasons for their boycott and we are waiting for them,’ Zaiyyana said.
Also endorsing the result of the primaries, Senator Ahmed Muhammad Maccido told newsmen that the large turnout of security personnel, delegates and other stakeholders for the election is commendable.
Announcing the result of the election, chairman of the election panel and Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, said: ‘Out of the 981 accredited, 961 votes were cast. Wamakko scored 956, Senator Abubakar Gada and Yusuf Sulaiman both scored zero, while five votes were declared invalid.’
Reacting, Gada in an interview in his residence in Sokoto said he totally rejected the election and its outcome, lamenting that civil servants were used as delegates.
‘We are totally rejecting the primary election and we are going to send our protest to the PDP headquarters and we are urging the PDP in the interest of the party to cancel the election because it is full of irregularity,’ he stated.
Governor Wamakko in an interview commended the electoral committee and the delegates for giving him their mandate to represent them again in the forthcoming governorship election.
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