Recent activities and reports emanating from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suggest a divide in the choice of retaining Vice-President Namadi Sambo, as Jonathan’s running mate as he seeks re-election next year.
Various PDP chieftains, especially from the Northern part of the country, have intensified their strategies and lobbying to replace Sambo as running mate to Jonathan. Though the PDP, through the NWC, has denied the existence of a schism in the party, Sunday New Telegraph gathered from reliable sources that the President is in a dilemma in choosing a running mate.
With Jonathan last week declaring his interest in contesting the 2015 presidential election to the party as well as setting up a presidential committee saddled with the responsibility of organising a formal declaration next month, the race for who succeeds Sambo may have shifted into a new level.
Among those allegedly angling to take over the vice-presidential ticket are Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido; Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema; Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida; Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yaguda; Senator Makarfi; PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, and surprisingly, the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Sunday New Telegraph gathered that though the likes of Lamido, Shema, Yaguda, Makarfi and Babangida have never hidden their interest in the VP’s position, the entrance of Mu’azu and Dasuki came as a surprise. This has given vent to speculations that Jonathan may leave his choice of Sambo open-ended.
Sambo’s many hurdles.
When the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party met for its 66th NEC meeting on September 18, one decision that topped the agenda was the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s candidate for the 2015 presidential election.
The confirmation of his candidacy followed a series of endorsements by each of the state chapters of the party in the six geopolitical zones of the country, the BOT and PDP national Caucus as well as the PDP Governors Forum. While responding to the endorsement, Jonathan said that he was so overwhelmed and humbled and lacked words to express his feelings.
He added that for the party to express that kind of confidence in him made him feel “extremely challenged.” He said, “It means that whatever we had done in the past three years, we will triple it.
That is the only way that Nigerians will appreciate it. I will not disappoint you,” he said. As the party top executives applauded him inside the NEC hall of the party’s Wadata House national headquarters in Abuja, one man who is still not quite sure of his fate is Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
Throughout the meeting, the only mention of a possibility of his remaining Jonathan’s running mate came from a commendation delivered by a former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo.
Speaking while seconding the motion for NEC to endorse Jonathan as the party’s sole presidential flag bearer, he commended both the President and his deputy for lifting the banner of the PDP very high.
If the non-mention of the vice-president during the meeting of the party’s highest decision making organ did not throw much light on the chances of Sambo on a joint ticket with Jonathan, the declaration of the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, few days later that the vice-president’s fate as running mate for the 2015 presidential election would be decided by the president, confirmed the possibility of him being replaced. Sunday New Telegraph gathered from an authoritative source in the party that Sambo’s chances of running with Jonathan again are hanging in the balance.
While the party’s strategists are playing a waiting game, they are said to be watching how political permutations will play out in the coming weeks. A top PDP chieftain, who spoke under the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said for now, Sambo’s fate as running mate is not cast in stone.
“The vice-president’s chances of retaining the ticket as running mate to President Goodluck Jonathan will be decided tactically. For now, the PDP is being strategic and Mr. President is not in a hurry to make any announcement about who will be his running mate,” he said.
For the past couple of months, speculations have been rife that Jonathan has been under pressure to drop Sambo. In fact, many orchestrated media reports have pointed to the plot to scheme Sambo out. Also, our correspondents learnt that many Northern politicians within the PDP are already hatching plans on how to succeed Sambo, in the eventuality of his being dropped.
The announcement at the NEC meeting confirmed that Sambo’s chances of remaining Jonathan’s running mate are not as firm as they were during the last election. The reassurances given by the PDP through its publicity directorate that Sambo would not be dropped, being a part of the winning team, was more like a mere pat on the back to raise his optimism and acknowledge his continued loyalty to the party.
Plot to replace Sambo
According to our source, the plot to remove Sambo was systematic and had been in the making as far back as 2010 when he was chosen by Jonathan as the vice-president. His emergence as the number two citizen of Nigeria did not go down well with many Northern political elites and decision makers. “Sambo’s emergence as VP was not as rosy.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum made sure that President Jonathan chose someone from among them. Initially, the Northern political elite preferred Senator Ahmed Makarfi since the choice of vice-president was zoned to the North-West. But due to some issues regarding his health and with Yar’Adua predicament still fresh in the minds of Nigerians, he was rejected.
It was Gen. TY Danjuma that played a major role in the emergence of Sambo. His choice was did not go down well with many of the kingmakers, mainly the Fulanis. That was when the plot to oust Sambo commenced,” our source said. The plot to replace Sambo was among the reasons the South-West lost the position of Speaker, House of Representatives to Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal in 2011.
“To the Northern power brokers, Sambo was not a true representative of the North. He is an Hausa man and in order to have true representation, they instigated Tambuwal to upstage Mulikat Akande-Adeola to the Speakership position already zoned to the South-West.
Since the President is from South-South, the Vice-President was not Fulani and the Senate Presidency was zoned to North-Central.
They initiated the machinery that brought Tambuwal. All those actions were calculated and strategic and occurred because Sambo was VP and they don’t see him as their own,” our source said.
The many campaigns
Among the many smear campaigns launched to discredit Sambo was the propagation of stories questioning his roots in Kaduna.
It was alleged that he was not originally from Kaduna State but from Auchi in Edo State. Many of Sambo’s travails started from his home state of Kaduna and to some extent, he is said to be the architect of his many troubles. According to reports, the vice-president is still pursuing the same isolationist policy that he prosecuted as governor.
In March 2012, during the PDP state congress, the vice-president single-handedly picked the entire executive, leaving then Governor Patrick Yakowa holding the hat.
Sambo, without consultations, had cornered 10 slots for his cronies, as Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga, from Zone Three, became party state chairman. In addition, he chose Alhaji Kabir Bala from Zone One as state secretary while Yakubu Abdullahi from Zone 2 became the North- West zonal secretary.
Similarly, the vice-president chose all the three ex-officio national members, as well as Hajiya Aisha Ibrahim Tamadina, the state women leader. In addition, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, former Head of Service in Kaduna State, was made National Organising Secretary, a position that was zoned to the entire North-West.
Similarly, some critics have compartmentalised Sambo as vice-president of Kaduna State, owing to his penchant to favour his own. In particular, the appointment of Alhaji Sani Sidi, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), received muted protests from North-West stakeholders.
Young, dynamic and capable, Sidi was Commissioner of Works when Sambo was governor. Afterwards, he became the NEMA helmsman when Sambo became vice-president and the elevation didn’t go down well with other governors.
The NEMA top post, according to them, was zoned to the North-West and not Kaduna State alone. Another hurdle that Sambo would need to surmount is the indication of former FCT Minister and National Deputy Secretary of the APC, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to run for governor of Kaduna State.
El-Rufai listed the state being fragmented across ethnic and religious lines; decaying educational institutions and increasing youth restiveness as among the reasons he wants to contest for the office of Governor of Kaduna State.
Having garnered a substantial support base coupled with his popularity, he is seen as a strong force in Kaduna where analysts feel the state Governor, Ramallan Yero, under performed. Yero has never contested an election and so far, his political capacity has never been tested.
With Sambo, who introduced him into politics in 2007 to serve as his Finance Commissioner, having never won any election at his polling unit, his ward and local government area since becoming vice-president, their combined influence in Kaduna is not deemed very strong to deliver the required votes for the presidential elections.
Already, El-Rufai has started exhibiting extreme confidence to defeat the PDP, saying that Sambo is a “nobody” in Kaduna. Many allegations have been thrown at Sambo to build up a mountain of reasons why he should be dropped.
Among the reasons being peddled is his not being able to win his wards during elections and also not commanding the required political followership in the North-East to carry the PDP and deliver the required votes from the North for President Jonathan.
Sunday New Telegraph gathered that one common characteristic among those calling for Sambo’s ouster is the fact that they are all Fulani and are desperately campaigning for 2019, not 2015.
“Many of those beating the loudest drums for Sambo to go are doing so with their eyes on 2019. Let me tell you, this constant agitation is not about 2015 and Sambo’s alleged incapability, it is about the 2019 elections and who succeeds Jonathan. The Fulani power brokers thought that Jonathan would not run in 2015.
When he started showing signs that he would run, they brought out the agreement issue which Aliyu Babangida (Niger State Governor) threatened he would present. Then, they started their G-7 rally and when it dawned on them that Jonathan would not play ball, they abandoned that and started planning for 2019.
“Therefore, Sambo needed to be removed for them to achieve their plan. They want to make sure that a Northern Fulani man succeeds Jonathan because whoever is vicepresident would likely be the person to beat in 2019. What Nigerians don’t know is that the campaign for the 2019 elections started a long time ago.
The crisis that rocked PDP which led to the defection of five governors was part of the game plan to remove Sambo and position a Fulani man as VP. If you take a look at all those clamouring for Sambo’s job are all Fulani,” said another source who spoke to Sunday New Telegraph and did not want his name published.
The Gladiators
While some of the gladiators that have their eyes on the vice-presidential ticket are indirectly engaging in consultations and lobbying for the position openly, others are plotting their strategies secretly. For Lamido, he really had intentions and went all the way to achieve the objective.
On more than one occasion, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has presented him as a preferable and worthy choice for president. He was among the G-7 governors that went round the country consulting with elder statesmen and founding fathers of the PDP.
Sunday New Telegraph gathered that he had to drop his ambition to prevent harassment and possible prosecution, especially as some of his children had some issues with law enforcement agents. Shema on the other hand started lobbying for the position after getting a second term as governor.
His plan was to realise the aim through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, where he was angling to be chairman until the crisis which later rendered the once powerful group impotent. He consolidated his lobbying using the Yar’Adua machinery and appeal to emotion.
Even after the NEC meeting, Shema was said not to have been swayed by the reports that Jonathan would not drop Sambo. His ambition came to a climax during a stakeholders and reconciliation meeting of the PDP held in Katsina State last week.
Shema had through some PDP stakeholders in the state prevailed on the PDP BOT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, to convince the President to replace Sambo with Shema. But the plan hit a brick wall when Anenih told Shema to shelve his ambition of replacing Sambo and opt for the Senate.
Babangida, who has for a long time threatened Jonathan’s eligibility for re-election with a threat to expose an alleged agreement the President reached with Northern governors not to run in 2015, was part of the G-7 governors but made a U-turn when some of them decided to defect to the APC. He has since joined the campaign to re-elect Jonathan.
Isa Yaguda, Bauchi State governor, was another contender who was scheming for the same objective but his chances was cut short with the emergence of his predecessor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, as the National Chairman of the party in January this year. With his new position, Mu’azu had the upper hand and put his machinery in use immediately.
Mu’azu is said to have set up the National Chairman Support Group, calling for support for a joint ticket with Jonathan for 2015.
His posters flooded Abuja, prompting another group, the Northern Youth Governance and Democratic Coalition, to accuse him of attempting to scuttle Jonathan’s 2015 ambition. For his part, Dasuki, though maintaining a low profile in his lobbying for the post, may have joined the train to fly the kite.
Sources who spoke to Sunday New Telegraph alleged that he has indicated interest to close friend and allies to have a go at the ticket. Though he has been quiet his lobbying, a PDP source alleged that he would jump into the fray should the opportunity arise.
While all the scheming and plotting continues against him, what Sambo has going for him is his loyalty to the President.
This virtue, Sunday New Telegraph gathered, has endeared him to the close allies of the President, such as Chief Tony Anenih and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark.
They are said to be ones that advised Jonathan to refuse Obasanjo’s demand for Sambo to be dropped for Lamido.
But if former head of state, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, picks the presidential ticket of the APC, the PDP will be keen on seeing who he picks as his running mate.
This is because Buhari’s running mate will be a deciding factor on whether Sambo remains Jonathan’s vice-presidential candidate for 2015 or if any of the contenders will realize their plot.Source: NewTelegraph
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