The news last Wednesday that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff paid a courtesy call on his successor as governor of Borno State, Senator Kasshim Shettima was one that has drawn the attention of political actors and watchers.
I dare say that the relationship between the two men which started about 20 years ago has impacted seriously on the political history of the country, having greatly impacted the ascension of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as president.By the time he emerged as governor of Borno State in 2003, Sheriff was unarguably one of the most captivating men of political intrigues of that era, having alongside senators like Senators Mamman Ali, Lawali Shuaibu among others redefined the politics of the opposition in the 1999 Senate.
How he was able to outsmart an incumbent governor to win the Borno State governorship election in 2003 owed more to his capacity for political intrigues than any other thing.
In 2007 he easily won a second term despite the PDP bandwagon of that year. Some said his victory owed to his capacity to penetrate political boundaries and make surreptitious deals. The PDP camp which had Kashim Imam as governorship candidate was very hopeful of getting support from state institutions but was disappointed at the last minute, not knowing that Sheriff had moved in the ‘night’ to erase all their plots through his ‘father,’ President Olusegun Obasanjo.
As it was alleged, Kashim saw himself as an Obasanjo political progeny. However, Sheriff saw Obasanjo as his father, having reportedly been playmates with Gbenga Obasanjo.
After he won the 2007 re-election he appointed Shettima, who was at that time an assistant General Manager with Zenith Bank as his commissioner for finance.
As he exited in 2011, Sheriff picked Shettima as his successor after his initial pick was assassinated during a Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri.
Given Sheriff’s well-known imposing demeanour the relationship with the new governor was expected to unravel within weeks. However, it endured for nearly three years during which time Shettima would regularly abandon state duties to receive Sheriff anytime he was coming or leaving town.
Associates of Shettima allege that irrespective of whatever he did that Sheriff would not allow him to do a second term. The whisper was that Sheriff did not want anyone to equal his record of being the only governor to have accomplished a second term in the state.
So, with the handwriting on the wall, an open war broke out in 2014. To the surprise of the godfather, many of those that Sheriff had foisted on Shettima rebelled and joined the governor.
It was in the midst of the unfolding intrigues that Shettima found an alliance with Tinubu which saved his second-term aspiration and defined the relationship that was to lead to his emergence as the presidential running mate in 2022.
As the APC prepared for its first national convention in 2014, Sheriff who was a major player in the party had formed an alliance with Chief Tom Ikimi who he was backing for the position of national chairman. Sheriff was also backing Kashim Imam for the position of National Secretary.
Knowing that if either of Sheriff’s candidates emerged as chairman or secretary he would be finished, Shettima reportedly impressed it on Asiwaju whose tolerance for Ikimi was already being stretched. That was what further galvanized support for Chief John Odigie-Oyegun despite strong reservations by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari who reportedly cautioned Tinubu against him.
Kashim Imam was more shocked as his withdrawal from the race of secretary was announced on the convention floor reportedly without his knowledge. Mai Mala Buni who was at that time a middle level party man was then shoved in as National Secretary.
With the permutations against him in the APC, Sheriff moved over to the PDP but his efforts to frustrate the second-term bid of Shettima failed largely on account of the resounding development achievements of the former banker as governor.
Since then both men have been involved in a game of cat and mouse with each regularly bidding to pull down one another.
Indeed, ahead of the 2019 election both men again set out their strategies to take control of Borno. Sheriff who had returned to the APC reportedly sponsored three persons in the contest while Shettima initially had his eyes only on Prof Babagana Zulum. However, as the primaries approached, Shettima recruited six more aspirants into the race. It later emerged that Shettima’s plan was to ensure that his camp with six aspirants would prevail in the event the aspirants were asked to choose among themselves who would be flagbearer. In the event, just as the primaries commenced the Shettima camp dazzled the Sheriff camp as six of the aspirants withdrew for Zulum giving momentum to the Shettima camp.
However, the Shettima camp is pained that the Sheriff camp took the outcome of the primary to court in a move to abort the Zulum candidacy.It is significant that Sheriff has almost consistently recruited some of the outstanding personalities in Borno to side him in his battles against Shettima. This development is what some attribute to sibling rivalry as they believe that Shettima came in from nowhere to snatch the political ascendancy.
it is indeed remarkable that despite Sheriff’s major role in his political emergence that Shettima, today, hardly acknowledges the role of the former governor in his life. Instead, you would rather hear Shettima hail Jim Ovia as his mentor and boss than Sheriff. It is indeed reflective of the deep scars of battle.
So, even when Sheriff visited, Shettima did not give him the courtesy of a photo-op that could confuse the ground troops in Borno.
Indeed, Borno stakeholders are looking to 2027 on what could possibly be the end of the rivalry. If Shettima is able to present a successor to Zulum, Senator Sheriff who once slaughtered political giants would have been reduced to a political ant in Borno.
