Mahdi Gusau: The storm ahead

One doesn’t have to be a foreteller to see the storm gathering in Zamfara state. Although Governor Bello Matawalle’s eventual transfer to the APC—after months of denied speculations—is unsurprising, the promised assurance of preventing a conflict of interests with his deputy, who’s chosen to remain in the PDP, is a fairytale for the gullible. But […]

One doesn’t have to be a foreteller to see the storm gathering in Zamfara state. Although Governor Bello Matawalle’s eventual transfer to the APC—after months of denied speculations—is unsurprising, the promised assurance of preventing a conflict of interests with his deputy, who’s chosen to remain in the PDP, is a fairytale for the gullible.

But things seem to have taken a dangerous route faster than one had anticipated. On Saturday, July 10, the Deputy Governor, Barrister Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, rushed to his social media to alert the world to the sign of the awaited time. He shared a screenshot of his exchange with the Zamfara state Commissioner of Police who had had his convoy barred from entering Gusau, the state capital.

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The police commissioner had texted to inform him that a planned rally by the PDP, of which the deputy governor is now the highest-ranked public official in the state, had been disapproved. “There is no rally taking place,” wrote Mr. Gusau. “I am in a convoy with my family to my house and using the route I always take.” The exchange must’ve been a reaction to the crowd welcoming the deputy Governor as he drove past, and hence this explanation: “If the well-wishers wish to follow me home, it’s their right. If the youths choose to escort me home, it’s their right. If all political platforms deem me fit and decide to watch me as I drive home, it is their constitutional right.”

With this emphatic reminder, Mr. Gusau, who’s a lawyer, has acknowledged the threats of functioning in a political rival’s shadow, even though he didn’t admit that. The man with whom he took the oath of office now belongs to the camp that once threatened to erase their political essence, and the reality Mr. Gusau himself has attempted to play down has already kicked in.

In an interview with BBC Hausa before the dust of the defection settled, Mr. Gusau reasserted the health of his relationship with his principal and that there was no love lost between them. Instead of playing into the hands of partisans eager to exploit their political difference, he chose to reassure the anxious public that he wouldn’t be leaving the party and that the sudden difference won’t be the first of such an arrangement in Nigeria. He was decorous and exuded outstanding maturity in weathering the political ordeal hovering over him then as he still was in alerting the world to the new development.

But whether Mr. Gusau admits it or not, the tone of the imminent political storm has already been set. The PDP would react to that “drastic” measure to stop their proposed gathering as a calculated partisan move to intimidate and frustrate their operations, and they may not be entirely wrong no matter the reason for disapproving that phantom rally in the state capital.

On June 29, after Mr. Matawalle had announced his defection, a grand ceremony was held at the Gusau Trade Fair Complex to welcome him to the new party. Premium Times reported that 10 APC governors were in attendance, along with serving ministers and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. All the governors in attendance were from states overrun by bandits and with their people yearning for salvation.

Even if the police were to stop an actual rally by the PDP on claims of security compromise in the state, which wouldn’t be out of place, the position would be invalidated by the fact that the APC had held a grand ceremony in the same place less than two weeks earlier. This moral dilemma is enough to frame Mr. Gusau’s experience as a partisan clampdown by the ruling party.

Mr. Matawalle’s defection is neither driven by defined integrity nor pursuit of his people’s interests. It’s a personal quest for survival. Not long ago, he was struggling to draw the nation’s attention to the interferences with his security measures by the political landlords in Abuja. Some of the political figures arrested by the state’s police command and accused of conniving to disrupt peace in the state through the use of bandits, were freed based on “order from above.” It became a well-documented scandal and intensified his vulnerability as an opposition.

Having also come to power through the Supreme Court when his predecessor, former Governor AbdulAziz Yari, led APC in the state through dubious primary elections that cost them governorship and National Assembly and State Assembly seats, the dread of a rematch was one for which he must be prepared. By joining the camp of his erstwhile nemeses, the PDP now remain his major threat to stay in office beyond his first term—and his deputy is a constant reminder of that threat.

As a demonstrably ruthless leader who had no qualm sacking traditional authorities suspected of dealing with bandits and, in late June, dissolving his cabinet, with his SSG, chief of staff, and chains of advisers also sent packing in an outright preparation for his defection before restoring some, Mr. Matawalle is ambitiously dangerous to be taken for granted by the much-younger deputy.

Mr. Gusau was a subject of pubic awe and discussion for his youth and position when he was sworn into office in 2019, and has kept a low profile since. This principled refusal to remain in the PDP despite the certainty of witch-hunt and harassment has again drawn him into the national spotlight. This storm may linger because, despite being a political upstart, his renowned father, General Aliyu Gusau, is a strong pillar of the PDP—and the son.