It is true that in politics, there is no permanent friend nor permanent enemy, but permanent interests, a slogan many political panduits have religiously held to their chests and hearts without recourse to responsibility, the future and repercussions that a decision taken under such circumstantial slogan might cause in the long run.
The staggering politics of Zamfara has been battered by this mannerisms such that the former governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar in 2019, ahead of the governorship election in the state became so power drunk having served for two terms straight, felt he could change the political arrangement and arithmetic of the state by single handedly deciding who would run for what political position in all the elective positions in the state.
This decision caused a lot of damage to the APC in the state, perhaps it is yet to fully recover. It made the party loss all even though it won all the state assembly, national assembly and governorship seats to the party (PDP) with the second highest votes in that election, giving birth to the emergence of the Matawallen Maradun, Alhaji Bello Mohammed as the governor as well as all others except one that contested under the platform of the PDP to occupy the seats according to a Supreme Court ruling for the next four years till 2023.
Having assumed office, governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle who took over a turbulent state largely controlled by bandits, kidnappers and cattle rustlers on the one hand and stiff opposition wedged by the Yaris making leadership near impossible, took up the challenge through peaceful and unifying manner of approach on both when he stepped up non-kinetic approach on the criminals by appealing for peace, a situation which brought relative peace to most parts of the state with some of the repentant bandits assisting security operatives in tracking and subduing unrepentant ones.
On the political fronts too, Matawalle sued for peace, reminding all political gladiators especially the former governor Yari and Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa to join him in making Zamfara politically strong and stable while he was also being midwifed by chieftains of the APC to join their party at a time the PDP never sympathized with him in the fight against bandits and other heinous criminals giving people of the state sleepless nights.
In the name of reconciliation and peace initiated by him, governor Matawalle defected to the APC bringing almost all the politicians in the state under one roof and agreeing to give juicy positions to the Yari camp members while when it was time to elect candidates ahead of the 2023 election in the state, Matawalle made sure Yari emerged for Zamfara west senatorial district and also made Yari the Matawalle second term governorship campaign coordinator.
It is with this super power non interference position given to him by Matawalle that Yari made sure he started hatching his unwholesome plans by ensuring that only his boys ran things for the campaign by appointing one of them as director general, the secretary and another to handle matters relating to INEC, thus he was able to sideline the APC leadership including notable stakeholders like his former Deputy when he was governor, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala Muhammad and the former Minister of Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda as well as taking advantage of the silence that followed the situation to virtually hijack all activities of the party and the campaign council to his home town of Talata Mafara giving first hand directives to his loyalists before the party or its leaders.
Meanwhile, even before the reconciliation which was initiated by Matawalle, Yari had already planted his boys into the PDP including the governor elect, Dauda Lawal Dare, Dantabawa, Maibuhu Gumi, Rabiu Ilili, Almufti, Musa Mallaha and others who forged what looked like a protest against their master to move to the PDP where he continued to fund them based on needs. It is now strongly speculated especially in Zamfara political circles that Yari fully sponsored the campaign activities of former minister Ikra Bilbis to defeat (thou inconclusive) Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa also in a bid to punish Marafa for his recalcitrance against Yari ahead of the 2019 election in the state.
However, twist of events began to emerge when the Yari followers began to display anti APC tendencies and showing support to key elective positions seekers from the opposition without any concrete criticism from Yari and culminating to the defeat of the governorship candidate at the polls.
Even when his boys were saying it to the hearing of everyone that they mix rice and beans (elect Yari’s choices in both APC and PDP) ahead of the 2023 elections, Yari kept mum till they actualized this and he came out to accuse them of anti party while he continued to work with them as if he was rewarding them for work well done, because when he was to share foodstuff to party members in his area during the Ramadan fast, he gave the same boys the power to share the gesture.
While this pain and hurt were being felt by the APC, Yari who had already won his senatorial seat with the full support of the governor decided to jet out of the country to Saudi Arabia in the name of performing the lesser Hajj leaving the Matawalle group to fend for itself.
Yari’s romance with the PDP has never been hidden right from the time he tried to defect to the PDP having lost control of the APC to Matawalle in the state, he was involved in Kaduna PDP campaign by sponsoring its governorship candidate, against Uba Sani who was the APC and Yari’s party’s candidate, that at a point, the now governor elect in Kaduna, Uba Sani had to warn Yari to steer clear from meddling in Kaduna politics.
As Matawalle supporters and loyalists are now practically trying to gather evidence against INEC over the last governorship election in the state, Yari who is the campaign coordinator is nowhere to be found, only information trickling out that as a first timer in the senate, he is already busy campaigning to be its president in the 10th assembly and at the same time, making arrangement to again abandon Matawalle and leave for another lesser Hajj, twice in less than 50 days. He should be reminded that he swore not to accept his emergence as senator if Matawalle failed to win the governorship election, he still has not said anything on this but aiming for the highest office in the senate, the president.
This is strongly confirming the suspicion that Yari is still on a vengeance mission against Matawalle who took over power from him, took over APC leadership and structure of the state and that he vowed to deal with Matawalle at the appropriate time which might be now because in his history, he is said to be an unforgiving being.