Sokoto guber: Leave military alone, group tells Tambuwal

As reactions continue to greet the just-concluded governorship election in Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal,winner of the election, has been asked not to celebrate yet.

Agenda for Democracy and Good Governance, which made the call asked the governor to leave the Nigerian military alone while he savours the taste of his temporary victory, which would not pass through legal furnace.

Gambo Abdulkadir, national president, of the group said since the tribunal can easily overturn the election, is a desperate attempt to save himself from his impending sack and defending a stolen mandate.

He made this submission via a statement.

“We find it necessary to call Tambuwal to order because it borders on criminal conspiracy for the Sokoto state governor to attempt placing the blame on the doorstep of other stakeholders knowing that his pyrrhic win with 342 votes will not stand up to judicial scrutiny at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal,” the statement read.

“The truth as to how he manipulated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to eventually declare him the winner is now well known across Nigeria as the details have been placed in the public domain. Tambuwal will at some point have to explain how he rigged the Sokoto State Governorship Election to emerge winner when his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lost the Presidential, National Assembly and Sokoto State House of Assembly seats.

“Under the law, Tambuwal could not have been laying claims to the mandate he has stolen had INEC as an electoral umpire not lost its soul, mind and body to the devil that some politicians are. The tactics deployed by the Commission to help Tambuwal steal the mandate of the people would turn out to be his undoing when the time comes at the tribunal.

“We therefore urge the Sokoto State outgoing governor to be ready to defend the rape of the people’s mandate in court as we are confident that he would be found culpable of commandeering and arming the thugs that necessitated the deployment of military to provide security.

“Tambuwal would be interested to note that political thugs have never been mobilized and used to unleash violence against voters on the scale witnessed under his government. The apprehended ones among them were traced and connected to him, which means Tambuwal’s bitterness is because the military truncated his plan to use thugs to allocate thousands of votes to himself instead of the paltry 342 votes’ margin he was able to get.

“It is no surprise that the outgoing governor is venting his disappointment at being technically defeated at the polls on anyone within hailing distance. His ineffective choice of mobilizing thugs for violence and rigging was a last resort after he had squandered the chance to meaningfully campaign by dissipating energy on his failed presidential aspiration – his shot at the governorship election was a fall back option after he had lost grounds while wasting his time in Abuja and Port Harcourt.

“What else can one say to a desperate man who wants to be President through the back door and became treacherous to the point of going on national television to insult those he once called his mentors? If he can defraud his mentors he can steal from the electorates. Now that he has been found out he is desperate to shift the blame to just any other person but himself. Tambuwal’s attempt to blame the military for his apparent loss, since the tribunal can easily overturn the election, is a desperate attempt to save himself from his impending sack and defending a stolen mandate, which is most uncharitable and unbecoming even for someone that has just committed the largest electoral robbery in Nigeria’s history.

“We therefore challenge Tambuwal to save himself without insulting the sensibility of the electorates by trying to shunt the responsibility for his thuggish behaviour to other people. It is an exercise we know he will fail at as he will soon stand trial for his crimes against democracy and the people of Sokoto State.”