By Mu’azu Abari, Keana
After years of false loyalty, underground conspiracy, political backstabbing, and fruitless efforts to undermine his benefactor, who had paved his way to the Nasarawa State Government House, Lafia, Governor Abdullahi Sule has shown his true colors and drawn a battle line with his benefactor, Distinguished Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the Architect of Modern Nasarawa state.
Governor Sule’s decision to declare open war on a man who had resisted pressure to choose his successor from among his close political allies or appointees, instead choosing him, who was seen as the least popular with zero political clout and capacity to win even a councillorship seat on his own, is one of the ironies of Nigeria’s politics.
His recent appearances on Arise and Channels television, where he made empty noise with unguarded and contradictory statements that exposed him to public mockery, did not come as a surprise. What shocked many, including political observers, was his derogatory remarks against Al-Makura, who had stood by him through thick and thin and made him Governor on a platter of gold.
He described Al-Makura as suffering from depression and frustration and further stated that the former Governor was mixing privilege with right, adding that if a sitting Governor wanted to see the President, must he carry a former Governor along with him? In another interview with Channels television, he said Al-Makura did not make him Governor, but later admitted that Al-Makura was his political mentor, though he claimed Al-Makura had no right to dictate to him who to choose as his successor, among many uncomplimentary remarks.
I found most of these reckless statements by the Governor, especially in saying that Al-Makura is suffering from depression and frustration, as highly disrespectful, senseless, and the highest form of ingratitude, and an example of how not to repay good with evil. Sule must be reminded that his political history, if any at all, is inconsequential and will forever remain incomplete without the name of Al-Makura and his roles in his political life.
Take it or leave it, Al-Makura’s political standing and influence, not only in Nasarawa but in Nigerian politics, especially within the APC, cannot be diminished or washed away, even by astute politicians, not to talk of people who cannot bring themselves back to power despite the incumbency factor at their disposal, and they would have been history by now if not for God’s intervention through the Supreme Court, which came to their rescue after they ran from pillar to post, crying like a baby.
Suffice it to say that without Al-Makura’s commitment, steadfastness, sacrifices, and political doggedness, Nasarawa state would not have been an APC today, and without Al-Makura’s broad political shoulder, influence, and magnanimity, Sule would not have been Nasarawa Governor by now, not to talk of having the temerity to insult Al-Makura. He would have been somewhere in Lagos selling sugar, but today, even his so-called loyalists are also attacking Al-Makura, who brought most of them to the political limelight.
Where was Sule when Al-Makura was being witch-hunted, arrested, detained, and frustrated, all in his bid to rescue the people of Nasarawa from PDP misrule? Where was Sule when Al-Makura stood behind the people of Nasarawa state and chose to be impeached rather than take their mandate to the PDP? Where was Sule when Al-Makura, alongside other Progressives, was moving helter-skelter to form the APC? What were Sule’s antecedents and contributions to the development of Nasarawa State prior to his emergence as Governor in 2019?
To those who care to know the current political happenings in Nasarawa APC, especially the frosty relationship between Sule and Al-Makura, it is not about Wadada or IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu’s guber ambitions. It is about the erosion of confidence, betrayal of trust, political backstabbing, and biting the finger that fed him, which have been existing for long when he was made governor.
His statement on mixing privileged with right is even more laughable and senseless, exposing him for what he is. The pertinent question to ask is: between Sule and Al-Makura, who is more Tinubu than the other? It is worthy of note that Sule, who is pretending to love Tinubu more than even the president’s parents, did not believe in Tinubu and worked against him at the APC presidential primaries.
It will interest the public to know that during the 2022 APC presidential primaries, Sule worked for former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while Al-Makura supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with whom he worked closely to form the APC when Sule was nowhere to be found. Al-Makura, being a democrat and a respected leader, chose to respect the governor’s decision but Sule went behind to try to snatch Al-Makura’s controlled delegates and give them to Osinbajo. It took Al-Makura maturity, patience, and statesmanship for the issue to be resolved amicably.
When Sule came on board, Al-Makura decided not to interfere in his government. It was the Governor who made Al-Makura’s home his regular point of call whenever the former Governor came for the weekend, which did not go down well with political jobbers who were looking for space in his government. They succeeded in misleading the Governor and pitching him against his benefactor.
Since then, Sule never rested in his continued efforts to sabotage Al-Makura and work against him clandestinely at night while pretending to love him in the morning. Unfortunately for him, Al-Makura was fully aware of all his moves against him, which kept blossoming by the day and reached its climax when Sule instigated the State House of Assembly against Al-Makura over a decision taken by his administration in the overall interest of the state, which was duly approved by the then Assembly. He also worked against Al-Makura’s return to the Senate.
Unfortunately for the backstabbing Governor, he almost lost his own re-election if not for divine intervention through the Supreme Court, which came to his rescue after he ran from pillar to post crying like a baby. It was the same Al-Makura, Adamu, and other critical stakeholders of the party at both the state and national levels that rallied around him to ensure that he retained his seat.
But the people of Nasarawa State are not surprised. It is not talking too much and recklessly that makes one a leader. A leader is someone who guides his tongue and talks only when necessary. A leader is someone who sticks to his words, and you can take his words to the bank, not always talking from both sides of his mouth, as we have been seeing in Nasarawa State in the last six years of his stewardship.
Is it not the same Sule who, at the beginning of his administration, said to hell with a second term and that he would go back to America and enjoy himself? Is it not the same Sule who said he would not contest for Senate at the end of his tenure, and what is happening today? He is already in Abuja by proxy, submitting his senatorial nomination form. Is it not the same Sule who said after God is Al-Makura? Is it not the same Sule who said he would never betray Al-Makura?
But what is happening today? Has he lived up to his words? So, his penchant for double standards and talking from both sides of his mouth is long known to the people of Nasarawa state, who never take him and his words seriously. Whatever he will say against Al-Makura will not hold water in the minds of the people of Nasarawa state; it would rather further endear Al-Makura to the hearts of the people of the state.
The current crisis rocking the Nasarawa APC, which has polarised the party into two antagonistic camps, is largely caused by the betrayal of trust and the failure of the Governor and the party to provide inclusive leadership, a level playing field to all aspirants, unite its members, and accommodate divergent views instead of discrimination and segregation. It is not about Senator Wadada’s or former IGP Adamu’s gubernatorial ambitions.
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