Governor Wamakko Returns To A Tumultuous Welcome
- friccon News
Africcon Report: Governor Wamakko Returns To A Tumultuous Welcome
Africcon New Media – News
From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
Sokoto State governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko yesterday arrived in Nigeria after his suspension from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but couldn’t land at the Sokoto airport on time because of the crowd.
The governor who came in company of another plane conveying federal lawmakers from the state had to hover in the air for a long time before turning back to Kaduna.
The first plane conveying federal lawmakers from the state landed at 4:15pm while the plane conveying Governor Wamakko was expected to land two minutes later but couldn’t make it because supporters crowded the tarmac.
The majority of the crowd which included party loyalists, opposition party members, solidarity groups as well as area boys crowded every nook and cranny of the state, including roads leading to the airport, even as they continued to chant heroic welcoming songs for the governor.
Governor Wamakko was recently suspended from the PDP while he was out of the country.
Some of the youths who spoke to LEADERSHIP at the airport maintained that come rain, come shine they were behind Wamakko, even as others described his suspension by the ruling PDP as a mistake which the party will regret should it fail to do the right thing in good time.
A Dornier 328 aircraft carrying Governor Wamakko aborted landing at the Sokoto airport yesterday as a huge crowd of his supporters defied security order and invaded the runway.
The governor who was returning from Abuja on an official trip could not land as expected around 4:15 pm as his supporters virtually trooped to the sterile area of the airport apparently to welcome him back home.
Sensing the danger of landing the aircraft amidst the crowd, the duty controller subsequently advised the pilot to abort landing and divert to Kaduna airport.
The managing director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Mazi Nnamdi Udoh, commended the initiative of the duty controller and all other security agencies, particularly officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for putting the situation under control.
The special assistant, media, to aviation minister Stella Oduah, Mr Joe Obi, also in a statement said, “The safety and security precautionary measure followed the near-breakdown of law and order at the Sokoto airport by an unruly crowd of Wamakko supporters who broke the fence and was on their way to the tarmac, apparently to welcome the governor.
“Effort by security personnel to prevent the breach of security and movement into the prohibited and restricted areas of the airport was met with stiff resistance from the crowd.”
He said the governor and other passengers on board had since returned and landed safely at the airport, after the unruly crowd had been successfully restrained from entering the restricted zone.
Speaking with journalists in Sokoto yesterday, Governor Wamakko said his suspension from the PDP had not changed his loyalty to the ruling party and that he remained a loyal member of the PDP.
Gov wants Bamanga Tukur removed
Meanwhile governor Wamakko yesterday assured that himself and all his teeming supporters will continue to be in the ruling PDP.
Wamakko stated this, while addressing a mammoth crowd of party loyalists who came in thousands to the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport and Government House, Sokoto to welcome him back to the state from his recent visit to The Netherlands, he then stressed that he has done more than enough for the party.
He also called for the immediate removal of the PDP national chairman, Bamanga Turkur, saying that only genuine internal democracy in the party can salvage the party ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“I have also being a loyal and proud member of the party and I have being helping in ensuring its growth and unity both here in the state, other states and at the national level ,’’ the governor recounted”.
The governor further assured party faithful that the people of Sokoto State are not fighting PDP but injustice and unfairness.
Wamakko, who recommended Bamanga Tukur’s sack on grounds of incompetence then said, ‘Tukur is running the affairs of PDP as more of a private enterprise’.
According to him, the PDP was practically non-existent in Sokoto when he took over the affairs of the party in the state, just as he recalled that the party (PDP), however, won 2011 elections in the State right from councillor to the governor.
While assuring that he is and will continue to be a proud member of the party, Wamakko noted that, PDP members in Sokoto State cannot be intimidate or harassed by whatever trick, hence the people of Sokoto State believes that is only God that can give and take away leadership.
The governor also advised President Goodluck Jonathan to sack Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, his Political Special adviser on grounds of ignorance and incompetence.
Speaking earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal assures the governor of their unalloyed support to him as well as the party.
Tambuwal added that, “The PDP under the leadership of Wamakko in the state remains a united political family.
“So the purported suspension is of no effect to us and there is no retreat or surrender. Wamakko will continue to be our leader even after he finished his term as a governor,” Tambuwal maintained.
When asked on the propriety Speaker’s presence at the rally, Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, said his boss attended the Sokoto rally because he is a grassroots politician who panders to the wish of his constituents.
“Speaker Tambuwal was in Sokoto (for the rally) because he believes in the saying that all politics is local. Any politician worth his onion must understand and influence the issues of his constituents. The people of Sokoto came out in numbers to welcome their Governor.”
