By Abdallah el-Kurebe
In his usually blunt manner, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto state has advised former vice President Atiku Abubakar not to repeat the mistakes of 2011 by rushing to contest presidency.
He gave the advice when he received Abubakar who was in Sokoto in continuation of his nation-wide consultation with his supporters.
“In commending your courage, mission and wisdom in taking the decision that you made, let me advice that you should not repeat the 2011 mistake.
According to Wamakko, Atiku’s rush to contest the presidency in 2011 made him lose to President Jonathan.
He therefore urged leaders of the opposition All Progressive party (APC) to put the interest of the nation above their individual aspirations.
“Nigeria is bigger than any individual. You, our leaders should put heads together. Don’t rush on your individual ambitions. Let us put our mission behind us and think of Nigeria first. After we are able to put a strong and formidable party across the country, then we should select our leaders and candidates based on widened acceptability,” Wamakko stressed.
The governor further pointed that time was against prioritizing individual ambition as against the nation. “What Nigerians are yearning for is an honest and transparent government, which has respect for each and every Nigerian regardless of his or her region.”
He questioned the utterances of Chief Edwin Clark and Asari Dokubo who, he said, have continued to make inflammatory comments against people of other sections of the country.
“Our people are treated as second class citizens of this country. Just two months ago, Edward Clark and his boy, one Asari Dokunbo made very irresponsible and amateur comment but nobody or security operatives called them and asked them why but last week, State Security operatives were looking for El-Rufa’i because he spoke.
“So in Nigeria today, if you are from the same region with Mr. President you are at liberty to speak the way you like and nothing will happen but if people from the other section speak even if what they say is true, they are in trouble. SSS operatives will come after them that they have committed an offense. This is the most unfortunate state we found ourselves in this country. This is not what this country deserves. What we deserve is honest and transparent government. God made us one country, He made us to be in one country regardless of our diversity. Therefore we need a government that will strengthen the bond of our relationship not a government that will prioritize one section against others,” Wamakko stressed
Earlier, Atiku noted that the APC was gaining ground in Nigeria. “The way APC is gaining ground in the country is an indication that Nigerians need change because in all the places we went, there was no single place where PDP was voted second, they all voted for APC to be our destination followed by other parties.”
He explained that his decision to dump PDP was borne out of consensus among his supporters from across the country and “because of APC’s unprecedented popularity and vision of saving the country from going adrift.”
