2015: PDP LEADERS MOVE TO DUMP SAMBO

• Another Northern governor emerges Jonathan’s favourite

The shape of the battle for the 2015 presidential ticket in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be manifesting by the day.

Some powerful forces in the party are pushing for a replacement of Vice President Namadi Sambo as running mate to President Goodluck Jonathan on the party’s ticket.

Their choice is a serving Northern governor, who, in the opinion of those pushing his case, has more clout in the region than Sambo.

They regard their candidate as the ultimate joker the party needs to win the North.

But a few other leaders are wary of the backlash of dropping Sambo and they are weighing the options.

According to findings, a major target of the Jonathan camp is how to secure the backing of at least 11 out of the 19 states in the North.

The permutations in the camp of the President is that he could win convincingly in 22 states made up of 11 in the North, five in the South-East and six states in the South-South.

Northern states being targeted are Plateau, Sokoto, Gombe, Benue, Kogi, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Kwara and Jigawa.

Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Yobe, Borno, Nasarawa and Niger are considered unpredictable.

A party source, who spoke in confidence, said: “A committee, comprising some trusted ministers, select loyal PDP leaders and strategists of the President have been working round the clock on how to secure the second term mandate.

“After the groundwork has reached an appreciable level, the President will then make a declaration in 2014.

“But a major challenge is how to win at least 11 of the 19 states in the North. The South-East and South-South are already taken for granted. Even where there is a bit of opposition in Rivers State, the presidency is already tackling Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

“Some PDP leaders are pushing for another Northern governor as running mate to President Jonathan to secure the North, especially the politically volatile North-West and North-East.

“A fair-complexioned governor in the North-West is being proposed to replace Vice-President Namadi Sambo, whose stronghold on the North is rated as weak. Since Sambo came on board, the party leaders believe he had acted more as a “technocrat” than a politician.

“They are clamouring for a VP who could play a political role like ex-VP Atiku Abubakar did for former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“As part of the induction of the said North-West governor into national politics, some PDP leaders and governors have recommended him to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum in May.

“The recommendation of the governor is based on his achievements, antecedents with the Yar’Aduas, and ability to reach out to Northern emirs and opinion leaders.”

Asked of the disposition of Jonathan, the source added: “So far, he is not disposed to dropping his deputy but if the party thinks otherwise in 2015, he might have no choice.

“The President does not want to talk about 2015 now to avoid distraction.”

Another source added that some forces in the presidency are uncomfortable with Sambo’s political weight.

“I think the signs are there that the PDP might change its team because some forces want Sambo out. They have no particular reason than sheer politics. They are suspecting his movement too.

“Recently, Sambo was scheduled for a trip to Owerri, Imo State. His advance team had gone to Owerri only for the VP to be stopped from going. They said the President asked Sambo to represent him elsewhere.”

It was also gathered that Jonathan’s strategists have not lost hope on their plan to ‘capture’ the South-West in 2015.

It was learnt that they are targeting Osun and Ekiti States.

Another source said: “Jonathan’s team is yet to give up on the South-West although the presidency’s cold war with Obasanjo and the recent sack of the National Secretary of PDP have discouraged most party members in the geopolitical zone.

“Their targets are Ekiti and Osun States. The recent development in PDP has helped to strengthen people’s faith in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the zone. The performance of the ACN governors has added much value too.”

Although Jonathan is banking on Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Labour Party to deliver Ondo State in the South-West, there are concerns that the politics of the South-West does not follow a similar pattern all the time.

It was gathered that the same forces which claimed to have secured a second term ticket for Mimiko, came out openly to protest against Jonathan’s administration for allegedly marginalising the South-West.

Source: The Nation