Tambuwal, other defectors will regret — Wamakko

• Urges support for Buhari, APC

From Raji Bello, Sokoto

Former governor of Sokoto State and Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko on Saturday said defectors to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties from All Progressives Congress (APC) will surely regret their actions.
Senator Wamakko stated this on Saturday at a rally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari and APC organised by their loyalists, in the wake of the defection of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to PDP from the ruling APC on Aug. 1.
He described PDP as a dead political party; and categorically ruled out Mr Tambuwal’s exit being a threat to APC hold on the state.
Wamakko, who was overwhelmed by the number of supporters that welcomed him at the Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III, maintained that APC was the party to beat in the state and Nigeria.
On the recent defection of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from APC to the PDP, Senator Wamakko said,”It is not a competition between myself and him, but, between APC and the PDP.
“All those who recently defected to the PDP will regret their actions as the PDP is already dead.”
He said the Sokoto APC still has two senators, seven members of the Federal House of Representatives and 12 state assembly members, beside the high percentage of political elders, youths, women and others in the state.
He conveyed President Buhari’s goodwill message to Sokoto residents.
He also maintained that his support for President Muhammadu Buhari is geared towards bringing dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of Sokoto people.
He debunked Gov. Tambuwal’s statement that the federal government has not executed any project in Sokoto.He said many projects have been executed and many have been proposed across the state.
He thanked the Sokoto people for the warm reception as well as huge support for President Buhari’s administration. He urged the people to sustain the support to ensure Mr Buhari and APC victory in 2019 elections.
“The present political situation in Sokoto is not between me and Governor Tambuwal but between APC as a political party and the dead PDP,” he said.
The senator enjoined Nigerians to shun detractors and support the leadership of President Buhari and APC at all levels.
State APC Chairman, Sadiq Achida, said APC is still in control of the state and the control will continue.
Goodwill messages were received from former Kebbi State Governor, Nasamu Dakingari, Umaru Gwandu, representative of Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state and Muhammad Bello, who attended the rally, to show solidarity with the people of Sokoto people.
Wamakko was received by a crowd that delayed the landing of the aircraft for hours as motorcyclists and people troop onto the runway.
The rally witnessed a long motorcade, a long chain of tricycles and thousands of pedestrians who trekked from the airport to Senator Wammako’s residence in Gawan Nama in Sokoto metropolis.