There is an old proverb that warns against throwing stones in a crowded market because the target—though not intended—may turn out to be a family member. It is a timeless warning against blind political attacks—and one that Munir Muhammed Dan’iya, the Sokoto State African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, ignored at his own peril.
In throwing his “watery” political stone at Governor Ahmed Aliyu over Sokoto’s water crisis, Dan’iya aimed to attack the incumbent’s efforts to address the problem, only to spectacularly hit himself and his former principal, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Instead of scoring the cheap political points he had hoped for, he has triggered damaging questions about what he did to tackle the problem, which they didn’t absolutely nothing about during the five years he served as Deputy Governor.
As they say, the joke is now on Dan’iya and Aminu Tambuwal, his former principal and political mentor. He had sought electoral advantage from a problem worsened by the administration in which he was a ranking member—the right hand man of Aminu Tambuwal, who, though not on the ballot, is actually the one pulling the strings and that will govern if, per any chance, he wins.
As the ADC candidate for the 2027 governorship election, Dan’iya had obviously wanted to present himself as a formidable challenger to Governor Aliyu. That is within his right. But the reality is that the odds are stacked heavily against him—whether measured by the strength of the parties, the incumbent’s performance in office, or the political momentum ahead of the election. Dan’iya has yet to demonstrate that he possesses what it takes to defeat a powerful sitting governor whose record has strengthened his bid for a second term. In addition to the unflinching support of Senator Aliyu Wamakko, who has since 2007 been in control of Sokoto State politics.
Dan’iya’s biggest political miscalculation is his decision to make records in office a central part of the campaign. Once he did that, he inevitably invited voters to also examine the terrible record of the Aminu Tambuwal–Dan’iya administration, where precisely his candidacy is vulnerable. Their record, by every reasonable assessment, was deeply disappointing, and Dan’iya cannot ask voters to judge Governor Aliyu’s performance without also answering for his own five years as Aminu Tambuwal’s right hand man.
Dan’iya entered the race carrying a performance record that cannot be easily separated from his present campaign. For five years, from 2018 to 2023, he served as Deputy Governor of Sokoto State under former Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. He was not an outsider observing what Aminu Tambuwal was doing from the sidelines, he was in fact involved in every single decision the administration took. He was the second-highest-ranking official in the state, part of the leadership that determined priorities, approved policies and that controlled financial resources of the state.
That history becomes particularly relevant when he chooses water as an issue on which to attack the current administration.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Dan’iya decried the water shortages in parts of Sokoto metropolis and expressed concern that residents were still spending scarce resources buying water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and other domestic needs, more than three years into Governor Ahmad Aliyu’s administration.
There is nothing unreasonable about drawing attention to water shortages. Water is a basic necessity, and residents have every right to demand reliable public supply. The problem is that the problem was worsened by the administration of which Dan’iya was a member, so he cannot just wake up and start making “noise” about Sokoto’s water problem as though he has just discovered it. The problem existed throughout the five years he served in government.
And this raises straightforward questions. What major water projects did the Tambuwal administration initiate? Which ones did it complete? How much was spent? What additional capacity did it add? Which communities benefited? And what happened to the projects he inherited from the Senator Aliyu Wamakko’s administrations?
These are not hostile questions. These are the questions the voters, like the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), are asking the ADC governorship candidate. Dan’iya cannot demand accountability for today’s problems while treating yesterday’s responsibilities that they shrinked as though they never existed.
According to the record, the Aminu Tambuwal/Dan’iya administration did not complete any water project that could have fundamentally transformed the water-supply situation confronting Sokoto residents. If this is false, Dan’iya should hold a world press conference and identify the projects, their costs, and completion dates. This would be a useful contribution to the debate.
Instead, he has chosen to highlight figures contained in the 2026 budget and imply that budgetary provisions amount to money already spent, while questioning why the water situation has not been completely transformed.
It’s baffling that a former deputy governor doesn’t know the difference between budget estimates, and contract sum. That distinction is particularly important in the case of the solar-power intervention at Sokoto Water Works.
The Ahmed Aliyu administration awarded a contract in May 2026 for the installation of 10,000 solar panels expected to generate 4.2 megawatts of electricity for the sustainable powering of operations at the Sokoto Water Works. The intervention is designed to address one of the critical constraints affecting water production and pumping: unreliable electricity.
Yet Dan’iya apparently wants voters to treat the project as though it was awarded years ago and should have eliminated water shortages by September 2026.
That is difficult to reconcile with the basic reality of infrastructure delivery. A contract awarded in May requires mobilisation, installation, testing and commissioning. The fact that water continues to be scarce in some areas while the intervention is being implemented does not mean that the project has failed. If Dan’iya has evidence that funds were released and diverted, he should produce it. If he believes the contractor has failed to perform, he should provide the evidence. If the project has been abandoned, he should demonstrate that.
That would ring a bell with the people. Simply asking, “Where is the water?” does not answer any of those questions. More importantly, it does not answer the question of what happened during the five years in which Dan’iya was in power.
Governor Ahmed Aliyu inherited a deeply entrenched water crisis and has responded with both immediate interventions to restore supply and long-term investments to permanently strengthen Sokoto’s water infrastructure: his administration has rehabilitated and revived six major water schemes—Tamaje, Gagi, Old Airport, Mana, Runjin Sambo and Ruga Liman—with a combined projected capacity of about 40 million gallons of water daily and an investment of approximately ₦14.1 billion; Tamaje and Old Airport have been completed and commissioned, while Mana and Ruga Liman are awaiting commissioning and rehabilitation contracts have been awarded for Runjin Sambo and Gagi. Beyond these major schemes, the administration has repaired and relaid more than 120 kilometres of burst and damaged pipelines within 18 months, installed booster stations to improve pressure in elevated areas, replaced obsolete machinery at the Water Board, rehabilitated abandoned facilities and restored critical components of the distribution network. It has also commissioned 42 high-capacity solar-powered boreholes across communities in the Sokoto metropolis to provide alternative sources of water. Collectively, these interventions represent a two-track strategy: restoring water supply in the short term while rebuilding the treatment, pumping, power and distribution infrastructure required to provide Sokoto residents with reliable, treated potable water over the long term.
Unfortunately, the Aminu Tambuwal/Dan’iya administration cannot point to any effort. Rather, it has the record of the six water schemes his administration abandoned, water pipes that were excavated and sold as scrap without replacement. And a history of pumping untreated water for the people of Sokoto State. If Dan’iya disputes these facts, he should provide the facts and allow the public to judge. This is the essence of democratic accountability: the same standard must apply to everyone.
Dan’iya cannot reasonably ask voters to examine Governor Ahmed Aliyu’s administration under a microscope while placing his own five years in government behind a curtain. If he wants to make the record in office a central issue in the 2027 contest, then the same standard must necessarily apply to the five years he spent in government as Deputy Governor under Aminu Tambuwal. Voters are entitled to ask what he contributed to that administration, what decisions he supported, what projects were initiated or completed during his tenure, and what responsibility he bears for the challenges the present administration inherited. Ahmed Aliyu, unlike the Aminu Tambuwal/Dan’iya administration, does not need anyone to ask it to be accountable because, like a duck takes to water, his administration has embraced accountability and transparency in the conduct of its affairs. And this is obvious from the numerous projects it has delivered, the resources it has committed and the results that are visible across the state. If Dan’iya believes voters should scrutinise the present administration, he should have no objection to voters applying the same scrutiny to the administration in which he served.
The political danger for Dan’iya is therefore obvious. By making water a major line of attack against the incumbent, he has also invited voters to compare what was done between 2018 and 2023 with what has been undertaken since 2023. A candidate seeking to return to power must therefore explain what he did when he previously had the opportunity to act.
We agree that Governor Ahmed Aliyu should be questioned. His expenditure should be examined. His projects should be scrutinised. His promises should be measured against delivery. That is how democracy works. But the opposition loses credibility when it demands accountability from others while refusing to account for its own record.
The 2027 election will certainly give Sokoto State voters an opportunity to make that comparison.
The state needs water, roads, schools and hospitals. It needs investment, security and social protection. Governor Ahmed Aliyu’s administration is addressing these challenges through the 9-Point Smart Agenda, with interventions across the major sectors of the economy and public services.
If Dan’iya believes he can do better, he should say how. He should present his own programme, explain how he intends to finance it and demonstrate why the voters should believe in him to deliver. This is a more credible campaign than simply pointing at a longstanding problem and pretending it began with the incumbent.
Ultimately, elections are won on credibility. Dan’iya cannot build credibility by telling voters big fat lies. He was Deputy Governor for five years. He was an insider in the Aminu Tambuwal administration whose record he must now defend.
His attempt to turn Sokoto’s water challenge into a political weapon has produced an unintended consequence: it has turned the spotlight back on him. And this is how Dan’iya’s “watery” past has caught up with him.
Gatekeepers News is not liable for opinions expressed in this article; they’re strictly the writer’s.
