Nigeria vice-president confirmed

The Senate said yesterday that all was set for the approval of the nomination of Kaduna State Governor Namadi Sambo as Vice-president to President Goodluck Jonathan.
This is coming as Sambo has publicly reacted to certain individuals who are against his nomination, describing them as detractors.


The approval is coming on the heels of a series of intense lobby of senators embarked upon by state governors, especially from the North-west zone, where Namadi hails from.
The lobby, as learnt, began last Thursday night, about 24 hours after the Governors’ Forum endorsed Sambo’s candidature and presented him to Jonathan, who in turn accepted him.
Rankled by the development, senators from the Northern part of the country had threatened to oppose Sambo’s nomination, because their candidate, Senator Ahmed Makarfi was not picked.
A senator confirmed that three governors were in Abuja to drum support for Sambo’s nomination.


It was also said that Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, was at the residence of Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu last Thursday night.
The governors were said to have separately reached out to all Northern senators (whose camp had been unsettled with Sambo’s nomination) for their understanding and cooperation in approving the nomination.
The lobby was reportedly successful. Members of the NSF and the National Interest Group (NIG), which fought for the empowerment of Jonathan in the Senate, were said to have agreed to approve the nomination.


A senator from the North-east zone told THISDAY yesterday that “the Senate will approve Sambo’s nomination; there will be no problem at all. President Jonathan has chosen the person he is ready to work with and it is not in our place to force somebody else on him.”
The Senate confirmed yesterday that Jonathan’s letter conveying the nomination of Sambo to it would be read today on the floor under announcement.
Chair of the Committee on Information and Media Ayogu Eze said the Upper House would thereafter set a date and time when the nomination would be approved.


Eze, in a statement circulated via e-mail yesterday, said: “I wish to confirm that the Senate has received the letter nominating Governor Namadi Sambo to the position of Vice-President.
“In accordance with our rules, the letter will be read as an official correspondence from Mr. President in plenary on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
“Thereafter, a time and date will be set when the Senate shall approve the nomination in accordance with section 146, subsection 3 of the 1999 Constitution.”


The House of Representatives will today consider Sambo's nomination with a view to according it the prescribed constitutional approval.
Unlike the Senate where Northern members had initially kicked at Sambo's nomination, the House had, through the Speaker Dimeji Bankole said that it would approve any nominee that Jonathan forwarded to it for approval as his vice-president.
Sambo, while distributing 15 buses to religious organizations in Kaduna yesterday, said: “We are calling on you not to listen to detractors; there are detractors; do not pay any attention to them. We have to move this state and this country forward together; let there be peace.”


In what could be his last official assignment as governor of the state, Sambo promised to give President Jonathan all the cooperation needed for him to succeed in developing Nigeria within the available time.
While thanking Jonathan for nominating him as his vice-president, Sambo explained that his nomination was because of the cooperation he receives from people of the state, which allows him to govern Kaduna State in peace. He added that his nomination was a plus for the whole state.


And in apparent show of full support for his deputy, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, to succeed him as governor, the vice-president-designate kept referring to Yakowa as “His Excellency, the governor-designate of Kaduna State.”
Sambo also expressed his confidence in the ability of Yakowa to continue with all projects started by his administration.
The Emir of Birnin Gwari, Dr. Zubairu Jibrin Maigwari, who was also among the invited guests, used the opportunity to caution those against the ascension of Yakowa as governor on religious ground.


The highly-respected emir told the gathering that there is no religion known to him that forbade a certain religious group from ruling in the state.  He further cautioned all to accept everything as the will of God.
Meanwhile, the struggle to decide a deputy governor that will succeed Yakowa continues unabated.
While the commissioners favour the Commissioner for Information Saidu Adamu as Yakowa’s replacement, based on the fact that he is young and comes from zone two where Sambo hails from, members of the state House of Assembly are insisting that one of them should be made the deputy governor-designate.


As at the time of going to press, members of the assembly were still holed up in a crucial meeting with the deputy governor at Government House, while the commissioners were said to have submitted Adamu’s name to Yakowa.
However, the Northern Youth Congress of Nigeria (NOYCN) has criticized Sambo’s nomination, saying it is an elite plan to destabilize the political unity and peace enjoyed by the North.


It said no responsible peace loving Northerner would accept the nomination, because Sambo is weak politically and has no experience at uniting the North, adding that it is a ploy to create confusion in the region.
In a statement after a five-hour meeting at Royal Tropicana Hotel, Kano yesterday, the group said it would have been better if Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu or Sokoto State Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shehu Shagari were nominated instead of Sambo.
It stated that both men had what it takes to develop the North agriculturally and educationally, adding that their ideological maturity, commitment and political will would play great roles in uniting the region

Posted: at 18-05-2010 05:09 PM (14 years ago) | Newbie

Any how.

Posted: at 19-05-2010 07:52 PM (14 years ago) | Gistmaniac