BEVERLY HILLS, August 05, (THEWILL) – Former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, on Saturday, stormed Sokoto to the warm embrace of hundreds of thousands of supporters that stretched over eight kilometres from the airport to his Sokoto residence.
THEWILL recalls that the former governor had said earlier in the week that those writing off the APC following Tambuwal’s defection and 18 members of the State House of Assembly to the PDP should wait till when he would return to Sokoto and see who is in control of the state.
True to his words, the state was literally shut down as the surging crowd came out in a show of solidarity with Wammako, President Muhammadu Buhari and the the All Progressives Congress (APC) dwarfing those pulled by Governor Aminu Tambuwal, his estranged political son, who abandoned the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday.
Immediately the plane carrying the senator landed at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, motorcyclists ran onto the tarmac to offer a guard of honour and from the airport to the town, traffic moved at a snail speed.
Wamakko, accompanied by his own APC loyalists from the state in the National and State Assemblies, told them to remain steadfast in their loyalty to the APC saying those who recently defected from the party are “wasting their time as politics is local and we have our base at the grassroots where we all came from, to take APC to greater heights.”
“The contest is not between me and Tambuwal but APC and the almost dead opposition PDP.
“I am confident that APC is second to none in Sokoto State because all strata of people are with our great party. I am sure that even people in and outside Sokoto know it all.
“Our journey, as ever, is synonymous with service delivery, good governance, peace, stability, security and the advancement of economic prosperity through the provision of infrastructure as well the fight against corruption.
“You can see it yourselves from the unprecedented crowd cutting across all sexes, ages and statuses. APC is a party for all and working for all. We are determined to protect your mandate at all levels without any negative recourse.”
At the rally were Deputy Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Tanzania Alhaji Sahabi Isah Gada, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Morocco, Abubakar Shehu Wurno, former Minister of Transport, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman among other notable politicians in the state.
