For about one hour, the Sultan and his chiefs were kept waiting for the Vice President only to get a message that Sambo had returned to Abuja.
The Sultan and his traditional chiefs were angered by the alleged snub.
According to a highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, the Sokoto Emirate was shocked by the sudden turn of attitude by the Vice President.
The source said: “There was an impromptu notice that the Vice President was going to pay a visit to the Sultan after the opening ceremony of the 6th General Assembly of NCTRN.
“The notice forced the Sultan to gather all his chiefs to receive Sambo but after waiting for about an hour, the VP did not honour the Emirate.
“From the venue of the event, the VP and his team went to Government Lodge for lunch. By the programme of the event, the VP should visit the palace after the lunch. But he went to the airport instead.
“Everyone felt disappointed because it has never happened in this Emirate. Also, it is the tradition for such an eminent guest like the VP to pay homage to Sultan. Nigerians should help us ask Sambo why he did not do so.”
Responding to a question, the source also alleged that the Vice President had earlier kept traditional rulers from different parts of the country waiting for one hour, 50 minutes before flying into the state to declare the session open.
The source added: “Most of the traditional rulers were unhappy by the lateness of the VP. There was no adequate communication that Sambo would come late.
“This kind of ill-treatment will certainly be reported to President Goodluck Jonathan.”
The Special Adviser on Media to the Vice President, Alhaji Umar Sani, however said the VP did not snub the Sultan.
Sani said: “The VP did not shun the Sultan; he has no reason to do so. How can we shun the Sultan? The VP has tremendous respect for Sultan and traditional rulers.
“There was no formal arrangement for the VP to visit the Sultan. The reason why we wanted to visit the Sultan was because he lost his Personal Assistant.
“So if there ought to be any visit, it was not part of the itinerary of the VP.”
Sani explained why the informal visit could not hold.
He said: “The Sultan was at the venue of the event and he is a co-chairman of the General Assembly with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade. Everything was just compressed into one.
“After the event, Governor Aliyu Wammako took the VP and seven governors in attendance to the Presidential Lodge for prayers and lunch.
“If the visit was part of the VP’s itinerary, he would have gone there because we had ample time.”
On why Sambo kept traditional rulers waiting by coming late to Sokoto, Sani added that it was not deliberate.
He said the traditional rulers were informed through the Etsu Nupe by the VP’s Protocol Officer that he would arrive a bit late.
He said: “We were late because the VP left the ASUU meeting with the President at 3am and he did not sleep until 4.30am.He also woke up by 5am to say his prayers. The time was tight and he had to rest.
“Even at that, we were to leave the airport by 9am but we could not do so until 9.30am. We were in Sokoto at exactly 11am. We were late by about an hour.
“The VP did not apologise to the traditional rulers because we were keeping in touch with them. Our Protocol Officer was in touch with the Etsu Nupe on why the VP would be late. The Etsu Nupe also briefed other traditional rulers.”
House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal described traditional rulers as crucial to sustainable peace and unity in the country.
He described them as true custodians of societal values and peaceful co-existence in the nation.
Tambawal who acknowledged spoke in Sokoto at the opening session of the sixth general assembly of the National Council of Traditional Rulers session in Nigeria (NCTRN).
“You have been working to ensure that there is peace in Nigeria and this noble gesture should be sustained.
“The National Assembly is proud to be associated with the activities of the council,” Tambuwal added.
National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, said the council had been a worthy partner in confronting security challenges.
“Notably, security especially with your periodic assemblies which have in no small way helped to shape our perception of security and other social problems,” he added.
Represented by Col. Bello Fadile, Dasuki pointed out that confronting the challenges facing Nigeria requires collective efforts and synergy between government agencies, groups, institutions and the general populace.
“There is need to go beyond those lines such as religion and ethnicity that have kept us apart as a nation.
“And have been tools in the hands of mischief makers and forge a common as well as united front in the fight as pre condition against current challenges in the country”, he stated.
The Sultan urged governors to work “much harder,” with the fear of God.
The Sultan, who is the co-chair of the council, promised that traditional rulers would continue to partner with the three tiers of government.
“This is to ensure that Nigeria moves to a much higher gound than it is now,” the sultan, averred.
Wamakko stressed the need to accord respect and due recognition to the traditional rulers.
“They are the custodians of religions, cultures and traditions and deserve more respect,like we have been doing in Sokoto since 2007,” the Sokoto state governor, added.
Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam who spoke on behalf of the six governors who attended the event, said traditional rulers were important in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
He said:” your roles are more important now, more than ever before and we are commending you for this.”
Source: The Nation
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