All Eyes On Wamakko In Sokoto

There is no doubt that Dr Ahmed Aliyu’s emergence as the governor of Sokoto State  has a strong link to the former governor,  Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko.

Aliyu had served as Commissioner  for Social Welfare and Health during the  administration of Wamakko.

However, their political ties could be  traced to when Wamakko was the deputy  governor of the state and overseeing the local government areas. At the time, Aliyu  was a director of finance in one of the local government areas.

In 2015, Aliyu, who had been close to Wamakko, ran with Waziri Tambuwal as deputy governorship candidate and they won the election. However, when Tambuwal defected to the PDP in 2018, Aliyu decided to remain in the APC with Wamakko and this gave him the leverage to emerge as the governorship candidate of the party in 2019.

After losing to Tambuwal, Aliyu was appointed the executive secretary of the Police Trust Fund, an office he held until  2022 when he voluntarily resigned and  re-contested for the governorship ticket of  the APC, which he won with the support of  Wamakko.

Wamakko had been leading the campaign train of Aliyu since 2019. At the time, there was widespread fear that if Aliyu emerged as governor, he would always act the script of his mentor. However, although Aliyu, at various times, exuded authority, he nonetheless continued promising to restore the policies and programmes of the Wamakko administration, which Tambuwal allegedly snubbed.

These include the restoration of payment of monthly stipends to imams, deputies and prayer callers(muezzins), among others.

Like in other states, those appointed as secretary to the government and the chief of staff are seen as allies of former Governor Wamakko, just like the incumbent governor. So far, commissioners and special advisers are yet to be appointed by the governor.