Not too long ago in this country, the nation experienced robust opposition. This body of sterling opposition figures did their due diligence, including very serious research, the outcome of which they deployed in their rich commentaries against incumbents, all in a bid to improve the entire leadership experience for the people and deepen democracy.
These days, however, we are beginning to witness a new kind of opposition, watery in content, completely bereft of ideas and very lazy in the search for facts and figures that could be used to keep ruling parties and current leaders on their toes.
Such was the character of this neo-opposition when Manir Dan Iya, gubernatorial aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Sokoto, decided to travel the road to nowhere by demanding that the state government furnish him with the total funds received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The only problem was that this information was already in the public domain. All Dan Iya needed to do was power an internet-enabled phone or laptop and find the information. Unfortunately, it would appear that Dan Iya, the opposition gubernatorial candidate hoping to dislodge Governor Ahmed Aliyu, does not want to do his homework. He wants the ruling party and government to help him do his own due diligence for him.
Can you imagine the irony? In the past, opposition politicians went to great lengths to uncover information that those in power did not want them to see, just so they could use it against them. Today, we have a politician who does not want to simply use the information available to him; he now wants the ruling party to help him collate the same information and possibly help him punch holes in its spending regime.
This is not the kind of opposition that ousts incumbents from office. This is hardly the mindset of those serious about leadership, and Dan Iya and the entire ADC, not just in Sokoto State but across the country, had better get their acts together or stop wasting the time of Nigerians.
If Dan Iya had not been so completely disingenuous, one would have expected to see brilliant analyses of the funds that have accrued to the state since 2023 against the total sums budgeted for projects and other spending. The people of Sokoto should be seeing him punching holes in government expenditure, not this shot in the dark.
I read the press release by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration of Governor Ahmed Aliyu, specifically the part where Dan Iya was reminded that he is living in a modern world where information is readily accessible, and I shook my head in shame. As we Africans would say, the family and loved ones of a mad person must feel shame on his behalf because he does not have any.
Now, because he has failed in the most basic of tasks, Dan Iya is being taught Governance 101, and this is embarrassing for a former deputy governor. They are explaining to him that government transactions, particularly decisions taken at State Executive Council meetings, are made public, including the amounts approved for the execution of various projects. This is like telling your grown-up but spoilt child that food is usually prepared in the kitchen and that his mother always announces when the kitchen duty is over.
But perhaps Dan Iya does not know what questions to ask today because of the processes adopted by his boss, Tambuwal, when they held sway. Maybe, as Deputy Governor, Dan Iya did not exactly know how the funds that accrued to the state were spent, let alone what the people of Sokoto were entitled to expect from those resources.
This may explain why, despite receiving billions of naira in monthly allocations, bailouts and other intervention funds, the administration he served in left the state without commensurate tangible development projects. It also left pensioners in the lurch, with years of hard-earned gratuities turned into wishful thinking, while ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were denied their monthly operational funds despite the state being burdened with huge debts.
Let us also refresh Dan Iya’s memory on the plight of workers during his time in office. Workers often did not know when their salaries would be paid, as his boss, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, built a notorious reputation for delaying salary payments until the 15th day of the following month. Even then, payment was uncertain, leaving workers unsure of when they would receive their entitlements. Those who eventually received their salaries often complained of shortfalls, with little or no effective avenue for redress, as payments were processed outside the state.
Dan Iya would also do well to remember that when Governor Ahmed Aliyu was sworn into office in May 2023, virtually all educational institutions in the state were wallowing in darkness, including the Government House, due to the accumulation of an electricity bill running into billions of naira.
It was on the education front, particularly the tuition commitments towards the education of Sokoto students in local and international schools, that the failure of the Dan Iya-Tambuwal joint ticket became even more glaring. Outstanding student registration and tuition fee obligations reportedly stood at over ₦5 billion. The story was no different for teachers who served various tertiary institutions in the state as sabbatical and visiting staff, as their allowances remained unpaid. The present administration has since cleared these inherited liabilities, including settling outstanding payments owed to students.
Beyond clearing inherited liabilities, Dan Iya needs to look at what the present administration has done in the area of workers’ welfare. The government has implemented the new minimum wage for workers across the state and local government services, including Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) staff. Furthermore, it has recruited 3,100 workers who have been deployed to various MDAs, alongside 2,400 health workers and 1,550 personnel for the Sokoto Marshall, as part of its commitment to strengthening public service delivery and enhancing security.
These achievements are in addition to numerous people-oriented projects being implemented across critical sectors, including road infrastructure, security, water supply, religious affairs, education, rural transformation and healthcare delivery.
Against this background, it easy to see that the administration in Sokoto State will anchor its re-election campaign on its record of achievements and the tangible projects delivered to the good people of the state.
Rather than demanding information that is already publicly available, Dan Iya desperate as he appears to tell the people something, should have told the voting masses of Sokoto State what the Tambuwal administration, in which he served as Deputy Governor, achieved. As this administration is bragging with its records, Dan Iya also has very right to brag with the good records of the immediate past admistration. The problem with that, may be that he has nothing worthwhile to present, hence this precocupation with taking potshots in the vain hope that it would fetch him some political sympathy with the people.
The truth, however, is that the people have seen the difference between the past and the present. And, if I were Dan Iya, I would stop trying to insult the intelligence of the people and move on to more useful campaign approaches. There’s nothing he’s trying to sell now that the Sokoto people have not seen or heard.
But most importantly, they have had the opportunity to compare and contrast his and this government and the difference is as wide as the heavens and the earth. Coming from an era characterised by dilapidated roads, deteriorating educational and healthcare facilities, inadequate support for security agencies in the fight against banditry, and uncertainty over the timely payment of workers’ salaries, Dan Iya ought to spare the people his sob story, because they have enough tears of their own.
The evidence of projects awarded but abandoned by the administration Dan Iya served in, including the Rijiya Flyover, the Tashar Illela Road project and several others across the local government areas leaves a physical evidence of failure, the only scorecard he truly has.
And this brings us back to the question Dan Iya seems determined to avoid. If he believes that he and his party are prepared to take over the affairs of Sokoto State in 2027, then the people deserve more than demands for information already in the public domain. They deserve a clear account of what the administration he served as Deputy Governor achieved, the policies it pursued, the projects it delivered and the legacy it left behind.
Until he can provide convincing answers to these questions, his demand for FAAC figures will remain a poor substitute for the serious opposition Sokoto State needs. Personally, I’m still waiting, and I’m sure the people of Sokoto are waiting with rapt attention for Dan Iya to explain to them what the administration in which he served as Deputy Governor did for the people of the State that qualifies him for another opportunity to govern.
Kabir writes from Sokoto