A continuation of Thunder Blowers Analysis titled : Zamfara APC under Minister Bello Matawalle and Power Permutations for 2027
Countless people may not understand how Zannan Bungudu the member representing Maru/Bungudu federal constituency has become or will become a political threat to the power permutations by Bello Matawallen Maradun the Minister of State for Defense as he plans to pick the gubernatorial ticket for the APC in 2027.
This hypothesis is mostly common among the supporters of the Minister simply because they believed, regardless of what he will use his position as the Minister as well as his closeness to the Presidency and party at the national level to manipulate every aspirant that may wish to join the gubernatorial race within the APC in 2027
This is the common position if you do interaction with some supporters of Matawalle, especially when you tried to point at some political anomalies that characterized the political decisions and indecision of the Minister and what ought to be done to save his political future.
But for many reasonable political observers must agree that despite the crises within the Matawalle political block and also between him and his political allies such as Sen. Marafa and Aminu Jaji there is another serious threat to his ambition which is Abdulmalik Zubairu Zannan Bungudu.
For now even Matawalle does not see the steps taken by Zanna within Zamfara APC movement as threat, but I believe in the next one year he will see the political indicators in their more visible terms.
But it is good that these potential threats are highlighted for the state political observers as well as Matawalle’s supporters to see and read so that they can begin to prepare for serious political fight to finish with Zannan Bungudu and his political block.
Firstly, we must accord reference to history, in 2015 when Zannan Bungudu wanted to contest the primaries with late Sani Ibrahim Ruwan Doruwa the then incumbent member of house of reps for Maru and Bungudu not many people took him serious indeed not even his political principal Sen. Yari who happened to be the incumbent Governor and party leaders of the APC as at that time believe that Zanna can alter with the political arrangement of the party at that time but the miracle was done by Zannan and he won his ticket hands down.
They for instance allow Zanna to continue with his political mobilization and outreach to delegates not until die minutes when they reached out to him and urged him to voluntarily step down for the incumbent lawmaker then and the man Zanna refuses.
Despite numerous outreach and threats, Zannan Bungudu stood his ground and contested the post of the house of reps against the interest of the powers that be as at that time, and he emerged victorious.
We all knew what happened and the level of political outreach that was made against Zanna as at that time, but he stood to his political confidence and probe to the powers that be that he wants to ride on the popular will of his constituents and that happened without any hitch.
In 2023, we all knew how he fought it out with two powerful and influential political God sons of Yarima and Matawalle Abdulrahaman Tunbido Kogunan Maru and Dr. Bashir Maru the former Deputy Chief of Staff to Matawalle, former Chairman of Zamfara Hospital Service Management Board and a Special Adviser.
He did not only defeated them by the powers of the ballot box during the primaries but knocked them after they took some judicial steps that is when they opted to file a pre-election litigation against his victory.
He won at the lower court, Court of Appeal and then the apex court and with the affirmation, he faces his fresh political journey toward putting smiles on the faces of Zamfara people.
To move further, Zannan Bungudu developed a new political strategy that almost made him the only standing “political hero” next to his principal Yari because he has continued to solidify his political structure within Zamfara APC to the extent that going by percentage, 2/3 of those die-heart supporters of Matawalle have aligned themselves with Zannan Bungudu in confidential political secrecy.
If you had the opportunity of having a private discussion with the majority of those that worked with Matawalle when he was a Governor and even those that pretend to be with him currently you will understand that they are only supporters of Matawalle in physical terms but aligned themselves spiritually with Zannan Bungudu.
Many of them are being financed by Zanna in secret way and many are working and mobilizing for him under the ground.
Even within the Yari camp, when you monitored the body language of the majority of the politicians who are supporters of Yari one will not argue in the contrary that Yari will be making a political mistake if he attempted to stop Zannan from accepting the clarion calls of the APC supporters in Zamfara because the political hurricane of Zannan within APC is non-surmountable for now even though we never can tell what will happen in the future.
Again, Zannan has developed a political structure that is both honest and sincere to his political project. Those managing his structure do not compromise and never agreed to shortchange him whenever he donated money or award a facility to groups or individuals, and they always genuinely advised him on how to continue to extend his philanthropic gesture to the people. This is the testimony people who have frequented his political team have been making about his political structure and its managers.
Zannan Bungudu network based on what people have been observing is now a political miracle that is sweeping Zamfara and his political popularity within APC is uncontested because in few months to come if he continues on the same trend I don’t think even his principal Sen Abdulaziz Yari may not desire to voluntarily surrender his political structure of Zamfara APC for Zannan so that he can face the national politics straight.
But why are Matawalle’s supporters so comfortable even with these threats constituted by Zanna. One, because they are earning what they desire to survive from the Minister so they don’t see the need to calling the attention of their principal so that he will not seek better options that can genuinely drive him out of the cage.
But despite that, they developed some political analogy which made it so alarming to believe their capacity and understanding of reality about Zamfara politics.
What are some of these political analogy?, some of them are of the candid view that once Yari’s political relationship with Matawalle is intact Zanna will be forced by Yari to step down his gubernatorial ambition for Matawalle no matter his level of political popularity.
And I think that opinion is surrounded by myopic thinking because Sen. Yari I am sure by now had learned the hardest political lessons of anointing a candidate against the wishes and desire of the people.
He has for instance enforced Matawalle on his supporters in 2023, and they showed him their open resistance and I think he will not make that mistake again.
Other supporters of Matawalle again will tell you that, in as per as Tinubu is alive and remain the President under the APC Matawalle will always have the leverage of securing the APC gubernatorial ticket for Zamfara in 2027 and I said to those with this opinion that gone were the days when the mighty of the ruling party at the center will enforce a gubernatorial candidate on the people at the state and even where that succeeds all of us can predict the consequences or the end-result of what is likely going to happen because people would always show resistance at the general election.
There are also those with another view that Matawalle has relaxed in doing the right thing to his supporters because when the time comes the Minister will use money to buy up the needed votes that would guarantee him the governorship ticket of the APC and I think every right thinking member of the APC in Zamfara must not be told that there is a limit to what money can do in an election and the 2023 experience is a clear dashboard for all of us to see and comprehend.
Then what is the option that can stop Zanna’s political threat against Matawalle? My answer is one, for Matawalle to reach out to Yari in earnest and get jurisdictional clearance of what Zannan Bungudu is eying for politically in 2027 and make a preliminary agreement to ensure that political boundaries are defined and if that is not done in earnest I doubt if Sen. Yari the political godfather of Zanna can have the power to stop Zanna’s ambition if the APC supporters of Zamfara stood behind him because it is a consensus that, democracy is for the people and by the people.
Secondly is for Matawalle to begin to form a solid and realistic political structure of credible politicians who have the respect of the party members in the state and begin mobilization in earnest because Zannan Bungudu is per a head of him in terms of genuine and realistic political mobilization.
Thirdly is for Bello Matawalle to separate party leadership led by Danfulani Tukur and his personal political structure and ensure that credible politicians not those who are banes of self enrichment are engaged to continue to torch the lives of his supporters. But for now, the minister should understand that many of his supporters are aggrieved because those handling the ants of his political movement are accused of being after their personal self enrichment and therefore what he has sent for of his supporters are usually reserved for these self enriched politicians who surrounded him
The recent development on the donation of the sum of N200M by the Minister during this Christmas visit to party leaders and supporters in Zamfara is enough proof to validate this political hypothesis hence many of his supporters have been seen over the social media complaining that the money was stinted in the hand of very few privileged politicians around the minister.
On a severe note, the Minister should not under-estimate what Zannan Bungudu can do to frustrate his political aspiration ahead of 2027 if really he has the ambition of recon testing for the governorship post. But if he is not re-contesting, then the world is free for him to do what he likes politically.
How can the Minister change the narrative against the Zanna’s political hurricane?
To be continued on Wednesday……
