Senator Ibrahim Lamido, representing Sokoto East Senatorial District, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC), announcing his decision via a post on X (formerly Twitter). He cited "persistent insecurity" and the "welfare of his constituents" as reasons for his exit. However, the APC's Sokoto State chapter responded not with concern but with celebration, viewing his departure as a relief. Party member Garba Idris described the resignation as "a good riddance to bad rubbish, and it's absolutely of no consequence." Lamido's tenure has been marked by perceived disengagement from party activities and failed attempts to create internal factions. Despite his claim of standing for the people of Sokoto East, he reportedly did not secure a majority in his own polling unit, ward, or local government during the 2023 elections. His political rise is widely attributed to the APC's machinery, particularly the influence of Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and Governor Ahmed Aliyu, with initial backing from former APC State Chairman Isa Sadiq Achida. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, Lamido has not sponsored any notable bills on health reform or security interventions.
Senator Ibrahim Lamido's resignation is less a political event than a public admission of irrelevance. That a sitting senator's exit from the ruling party is greeted with applause by his own comrades exposes the depth of his isolation within the APC. The fact that Garba Idris could dismiss him as "bad rubbish" without backlash signals that Lamido had long ceased to be a functional party member, let alone a leader.
His claim of resigning over insecurity and constituent welfare collapses under scrutiny. If these were genuine concerns, they should have driven legislative action—yet there is no record of motions, bills, or advocacy from him on cholera, Lassa fever, or rural safety, despite chairing a key health committee. His silence in office contrasts sharply with his sudden eloquence in exit. The timing, post-election and after the consolidation of APC power in Sokoto, suggests not principle but political recalibration.
Ordinary voters in Sokoto East, many of whom did not vote for him in 2023, gain nothing from this theatrics. They remain underserved, insecure, and without representation in any meaningful sense. Lamido's departure changes nothing for them, as his presence in the Senate had already yielded no tangible benefit.
This fits a broader pattern in Nigerian politics: parties as launchpads, not ideologies. Figures like Lamido use party structures to gain office, then abandon them when inconvenient, leaving behind weakened institutions and disillusioned citizens.
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