Zamfara state to a reasonable extent has been a one party dominated state since Nigeria recovered democracy from the military cabals in 1999 and to understand Zamfara politics, one has to make a thorough and careful analysis of the political development of the state.
There is no doubt that since 1999, senator Ahmad Sani Yarima has been dominating the political land scape of the state and has been identified as the doyen of Zamfara politics because he is a political maradona who could score goals with his hands and describe the hands as the hands of God. He succeeded with his political tricks to build his political dynasty in the state, the political empire that proved too difficult for PDP to break even with the federal might.
Majority of Zamfara people who jumped to political limelight were the deciples of the senator. Till today ,theseare the people who make things to happen in the state. one of such people is Governor Abdulaziz Yari who came from nowhere to become the alpha and omega in the state today, claiming that he is the present political hero in the state.
First, when Ahmad Sani Yarima was the state governor between 1999 to 2007, he anointed Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari the state secretary of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party in the state and within a twinkle of an eye, he uplifted him to the status of the state party chairman.
Again, senator Yarima who was the decisive guru in Zamfara politics used his political influence to anoint Abdulaziz Yari as the running mate to Alhaji Mahmud’a Aliyu Shinkafi who was to contest the governorship election on the platform of ANPP but Shinkafi rejected working with Abdulaziz Yari for the reason best known to him, a situation that nearly created frictions in the party which would have made ANPP to lose the grip of power in the state.
But the former Governor amended the cracking walls by swapping some already established positions. He retrieved the ticket from his uncle who had been given the ticket to contest election into the House of Representatives to represent Anna/ Talata Mafara federal constituency and gave it to Abdulaziz Yari while he asked his uncle Alhaji Muktar Anka to be the deputy to Shinkafi.
With such arrangements, all the candidates of ANPP won the whole seats in the state. But the unexpected happened as things fell apart between Senator Yarima and Shinkafi which forced Shinkafi to defect to the PDP with his supporters.
Then, the titanic battle over who controls the soul of Zamfara politics began between the Governor and the senator. Shinkafi began to build his own political empire to challenge his former boss. But after the 2011 election, Shinkafi lost the battle which made senator Yarima to boast that a Master is always a Master in any political war.
But before then, the senator had an agreement that Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle would be anointed as the governorship candidate on the platform of ANPP to battle Shinkafi in the 2011 election but somewhere along the line, there was a serious misunderstanding between them that the senator had to change his mind and decided to anoint Abdulaziz Yari to be the governorship candidate of the party which made Hon. Matawalle to defect to PDP.
Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, therefore, joined forces with the then governor, Shinkafi to battle Yarima and his ANPP which the ANPP won the election with a land slide victory in 2015 general elections.
But the story has changed now as Governor Abdulaziz Yari used his power as the controller of the state resources to retire his political god father from active politics and rendered the senator incapacitated as he eyes the senatorial seat of Senator Yarima since they are both from the same senatorial zone which signified that politics is a dirty game indeed.
Before the retirement, both the Governor and the senator dribbled Shinkafi to defect to APC which it was alleged that they promised to anoint him as the APC governorship candidate to enable him complete his second tenure.
But little did shinkafi know that the Governor had his own candidate who is his commissioner for finance, Hon. Muktar Shehu Idris.
The Governor had earlier sent a red signal to everybody in the party that he was the alpha and omega in the state following the endorsement of his boy, Hon. Lawali Liman Kaura as the state chairman of APC during the Congresses of the party in the state.
This, however, led to parallel Congresses in the state. He made it clear to even senator Yarima that it was not possible for him to be the landlord of the state for eight years without creating his own political empire in the state.
Then came the time for the primary elections of the party, he hijacked the whole party structure and placed all his loyalists in the positions he so wished.
This however did not go down well with senator Kabiru Marafa and seven other aspirants to the governorship position which led to the formation a group known as the G8, challenging the Governor and causing much damage that has prevented APC from producing any candidate in the state today.
The national headquarters of the party said it was not aware of any primary election in the state likewise the INEC.
The state government had to seek redress in court, praying the court to uphold the primary elections which the G8 group described as kangaroo elections.
The case still remain undecided up till press time which the opposition parties are lamenting, warning INEC that there would be trouble if APC in the state is allowed to participate in the elections.
It, therefore, becomes clearer that if APC candidates are not allowed to contest the elections, the battle would be between PDP and APGA, the most notable political parties in the state.
Of all the candidates, aspiring for the prestigious seat in the state, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) has the brightest chance to be the next governor of the state.
He has been seen as a man of proven integrity and the most popular and famous among all the contenders because he has held various political positions in the past.
He was the pioneer commissioner of the state ministry for local government and chieftaincy affairs, a three time member of the House of Representatives, leaving the House as the chairman house committee on security and public safety.
Again he has a political root and has been parading his long time hospitality as his political weapon that could endear the electorate to himself and his relationship with the youths in the state.
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