By Towncriernews
It has been uncovered that the real motive behind the Sokoto State House of Assembly Bill which has gone second reading was because the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar did not support the present administration in 2019 governorship election.
A source close to Tambuwal now Senator, who did not want his name mentioned, disclosed that the consequence is that incumbent governor and some of his supporters were still bitter over the 2019 contest.
According to the source, “There have always been issues between the Sultan and the governor, which started in 2019. The Sultan has always been alleged to be backing the former governor, Tambuwal. There was even a time during the 2019 elections when APC members pelted Sultan’s house. The PDP, at that time, had nine strong people in the House of Assembly, and the APC saw the Sultan as number 10.
“Since that time, the people in APC said they would change the Sultan if they won. But APC didn’t win. Now, APC is in power. And looking at what is happening in Kano, which has proven that one can easily remove the Emir… The Sultan is still very close to Tambuwal.”
Besides, the source said part of what made the governor angry was when the renowned international Islamic scholar, Dr. Zakir Naik, visited Sokoto, late last year, to take part in the 10th yearly Usman Danfodiyo Week celebration.
The Week is organised by the Sultanate Council to commemorate the life and death of the great Islamic reformer who founded the Sokoto Caliphate, Sheikh Usman Danfodiyo.
The source said the scholar was invited to Sokoto personally by the Sultan without informing the governor. He said: “The Sultan invited Zakir Naik in 2013, and 10 years later, Naik came back to Sokoto and the Sultan did not inform the governor. There was a video trending on social media where the Sultan allegedly said that he was the Sultan and under the law of Islam, he could invite any scholar to come and give a lecture. | think it was towards final day that the governor saw Naik.
“However, there is not much tension because most people know that Sokoto is not like Kano. The Sultan is a much respected person. Most people, even from the APC, will stand against it. They won’t let that happen. The Sultanate Council is about the lineage of Uthman Danfodio.”
It was gathered that Vice President Shettima, at about Ramadan, had intervened in the Cold War between the governor and Sultan, another source disclosed, noting that the Vice President, who “came to Sokoto immediately after Sallah prayer, spoke to both of them. But what happened after the meeting was that the governor set up a committee to review allegations against some district heads. But surprisingly, an APC leader in the state chaired the committee, and its report led to the recent removal of 15 district heads by the governor.”