Kaduna State Governor Mohamed Namadi Sambo’s nomination as Vice President of the Federal Republic was not sent to the Senate by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday because the National Governors’ Forum requested for time to lobby members of the National Assembly and ensure a hitch-free confirmation process, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja last night.
Late in the afternoon and well into the night yesterday, Governor Namadi Sambo and several of his colleagues were seen paying visits to the houses of Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, House Speaker Oladimeji Bankole as well as House Deputy Speaker Usman Bayero Nafada. Among governors sighted in the entourage were Dr. Bukola Saraki, governor of Kwara State and chairman of the National Governors’ Forum; Governors Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto and Gabriel Suswam of Benue.
The bone of contention, Daily Trust learnt, was the insistence by National Assembly members that a legislator, as opposed to a state governor, should be selected as the new vice president. Earlier in the week, both the Senate and House Northern Caucuses endorsed former Kaduna State governor Senator Ahmed Mohamed Makarfi for the job. Governor Sambo’s subsequent nomination by Jonathan infuriated some legislators because of his ongoing political conflict in Kaduna State with Makarfi, the man who anointed him as governor in 2007.
Sambo’s name was supposed to be sent to both houses of the national Assembly yesterday, but up until they rose from their sittings, no letter from the President was read on the floor. This set many tongues wagging as to whether Jonathan may have had a change of mind. However, Daily Trust learnt that during Jonathan’s late night meeting with the governors on Wednesday, the issue of possible complications in the confirmation process came up. While all the governors were confident that Sambo will be confirmed given his humble disposition good track record in office and non-controversial nature, it was also agreed that there was the need to pacify the legislators before his name was forwarded to them.
Yet another source told Daily Trust that after visiting the Assembly leaders, all the governors will use this weekend to work on MPs from their states in order to smoothen Sambo’s path to easy confirmation when his name is forwarded to the National Assembly on Monday next week.
Meanwhile, there was jubilation at the Kaduna Government House yesterday as hundreds of politicians and women from across the state’s 23 local government areas converged there to rejoice with the wife of the governor, Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, over the reported nomination of her husband as the vice president.
They danced and chanted; “Allah Ya bamu,” meaning, “God has given us” in Hausa. The men also shouted Governor Sambo’s political war cry, “Daram, Dam, sai Abuja!”
Members of the state executive council were also sighted at a parlour where Hajiya Amina Sambo was receiving the well-wishers. She was seen beaming with smiles and greeting the visitors. Wife of the Kaduna State Deputy Governor Mrs. Amina Patrick Yakowa, who is billed to succeed her as state First Lady, assisted Sambo’s wife to receive visitors.
A well-wisher, Mrs Karimat Isang, said the elevation was worth celebrating as it was a surprise to the people of the state. She commended President Goodluck Jonathan for picking Governor Namadi Sambo, saying he would never regret his choice.
She said, “Good things happen to people who have good intentions, even when they don’t struggle for it. God chose Namadi because he has a good heart for Kaduna State and Nigeria in general. He is very proactive when he wants to do things.’’
Mrs Florence Aya, a former member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, said Governor Sambo’s elevation was purely the work of God. “He is a man who has capabilities, who has the interest of the masses at heart. God will use him to transform this country for the benefit of the masses. I wish him and the president well as they pilot the affairs of our country,’’ she said.
Kaduna state’s Commissioner for Information Mr Sa’idu Adamu also told NAN in Kaduna yesterday that Sambo’s nomination was the outcome of the president’s meeting with state governors in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said Governor Sambo returned to Kaduna early yesterday after attending the meeting to receive the president who was on a one-day visit to Kaduna to mark the Nigeria Airforce Day.
Born on Aug. 2, 1954, in Zaria, Kaduna State, Sambo started his education in 1959 in Kaduna before proceeding to ABU, Zaria in 1972 where he qualified as an architect in 1976.
He was elected governor on the platform of the PDP in 2007.
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