Yarima consolidate grip on Zamfara politics
ith the reemergence of former Zamfara State governor Ahmad Sani Yarima as Senator for Zamfara West Senatorial Zone, the political calculations and permutations in the PDP in the state looks set to be changed.
Senator Yarima remains a force to reckon with in Zamfara politics. Being the first civilian governor in the state, he wielded enormous political advantage owing to the fact that most of the political gladiators in the state, whether in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were hatched by him.
Being a political godfather in the state, Yarima maintains his influence, despite the fact that several attempts were made by his key opponents to clip his political wing.
In fact, it is believed that victory is crowned on every contest that receives Yarima’s formal endorsement and blessing at any level, owing to the enormous political power he is believed to be wielding.
The ruling APC in the state was able to seize one Senate and four seats in the House of Representatives from the PDP and retained its two seats, thus winning all the Senate and seven House of Representatives seats in the state. Many attribute the victory to Yarima’s influence.
Prior to the polls, PDP chieftains and candidates in the state believed that it would be time for them to disgrace Yarima and his political allies. But that was not to be.
Yarima secured 214,990 votes against his opponent of the PDP Dr Bello Muhammad Mutawalle who polled 62,360. Thus, Yarima is returning to the Red Chamber for the third consecutive term.
Many PDP chieftains expected Yarima’s senatorial ambition to crash. This, according to their calculation, would spark the beginning of the end of Yarima’s political influence and impact on Governor Abdulazeez Yari’s reelection bid.
Political pundits in the state believe that with Saturday’s victory, the PDP governorship candidate, Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi, will find it very difficult to defeat Yari, considered very close to Yarima.
Shinkafi was the deputy to Yarima for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. He became the first and only deputy governor to succeed his boss since the return of democracy in 1999.
At the expiration of their tenure in 2007, Yarima anointed Shinkafi as his successor and supported him to defeat the then PDP candidate and former civilian governor of the old Sokoto State Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim.
Being the only governor who handed over power to his deputy in the country, praises were showered on him from different political quarters. But the duo later fell apart.
On December 5, 2008, Shinkafi defected to the PDP, taking along all the party leaders of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) with him to the PDP, a development that was seen by many political pundits as the climax of rivalry between the two hitherto close political friends.
Many political observers attributed, among other things, the failure of the PDP to win the state in the 2011 to Shinkafi’s decision to bite the finger that fed him.
On the other hand, the defunct ANPP, led by Yarima, wrestled power from Shinkafi and his allies in the state.
Since then, the battle for control of the state ensued between the then governor, Shinkafi, and his former boss, Senator Yarima, with each displaying his political sagacity and might to win the battle. Political plots and counter plots became the order of the day between Yarima and Shinkafi.
At that time, Yarima saw this as a move by the PDP, which controls the centre, to diminish his political strength and fight back.
In the 2011 elections, Shinkafi was roundly defeated by Yari, Yarima’s anointed candidate, a development that was seen by many as Yarima’s sweet revenge.
After the 2011 general 2011, Yarima was able to consolidate his political supremacy in the state. His victory during Saturday’s polls, analysts say, has sent jitters to the PDP camp as the rivalry between him and Shinkafi is set to be reignited on April 11.