In spite of the solidarity visit of the North West Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to President Goodluck Jonathan, strong indications emerged yesterday that the question of a running mate for the next election is far from settled.
The caucus is still deeply divided over the continued stay of the Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, in office beyond 2015.
The caucus had visited President Jonathan on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in what is seen as an effort to shore up support for the embattled vice president who is struggling to establish firm control of the PDP in the zone.
Hundreds of party faithful in Kaduna, the vice president’s home state, have defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent weeks.
Sources at the Thursday meeting disclosed that some of the leaders in the delegation, particularly the Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, were upset that what was meant to be a goodwill visit to the president was hijacked by the vice president’s camp as proof of his endorsement and clout.
A source said that the speech by a member of the delegation, Dr. Haliru Bello, which endorsed Sambo, was “nothing short of an ambush.”
“We did not know – and we doubt if Dr. Bello himself knew – what the speech contained. We were embarrassed because we had been given the impression that it was just going to be a goodwill visit to the president,” the source said.
With a voter strength of over 18 million, the North West boasts the highest number of voters in the electoral roll and a number of party heavyweights in the zone are waiting in the wings either to have a shot at the number one spot or to topple the vice president.
The Katsina state governor who was at the meeting, for example, is among those touted to be in the race to replace Sambo in the event that the political heat against the vice president succeeded.
Also, prior to the defection of the five PDP governors to the APC, one of the secret conditions for support for the president was to replace Sambo with someone who has a “considerable electoral value in the North West”.
In this regard, the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, was also mentioned as a possible running mate to President Jonathan even as his Kebbi state counterpart, Saidu Dakingari as well as a former governor, now a serving senator from the zone were being touted.
The reason for the absence of the Jigawa governor at the Villa meeting could not be confirmed as at press time.
Although Sambo’s political value had been a source of serious concern in the North West zone, the recent gale of defections of PDP members to the APC in Kaduna State was the opportunity those who want him replaced needed to fight on.
A source at Thursday meeting in the villa said: “Unless we are deceiving ourselves, we all know that the vice president does not have the needed political clout to put the northwest together to face the rampaging APC.
“All we need to do is to be bold to face the truth that Mr President needs someone with more electoral value to run with him; anything below that is like taking a risk; that is why we need to be careful in the face of the manipulation that just took place on Thursday,” he said.
Dr. Bello had during his speech, told the President that Sambo is in-charge of the zone and still enjoys widespread support of PDP members irrespective of the gale of defection to the opposition APC recently.
However, a source revealed that all hell was let loose after the meeting with the president as a result of Bello’s stance, which was seen as alien to the collective opinion of the caucus.
The caucus, the source said, had earlier converged to harmonise their views at Transcorp Hilton Hotel but was allegedly asked to head for the Villa when signals came that the President was ready to meet with them.
“They could not reach a consensus before meeting the President; so Bello was hurriedly handed a prepared script by some persons regarded as Sambo’s men to deliver.
“From the look of things, the issue of Sambo’s endorsement was not part of the issues to be presented; all they wanted to do was to solidarise with the president and assure him that the PDP was still strong and not to endorse Sambo.
“That is why it created some tension and disagreement among them immediately after the meeting and I know such will take some time to heal in that zone”, the source said.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that some prominent members of the delegation including a former governor now a serving senator, re-grouped at another location with some close aides of the president at a strategic meeting for Jonathan 2015 to review the parley with the president.
Those at the meeting, which incidentally held the same Thursday were the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, Mohammed Bello and Ahmed Gulak.
The meeting comprises close associates of the president. It was held this time to particularly assess the meeting between the North West PDP leaders and the President.
It was learnt that the session reviewed the meeting and arrived at a conclusion, which pointed to the direction of a possible search for a new running mate aside Sambo.
“The obvious fact was that the delegation left the Villa in disarray over the fate of Sambo. Perhaps, they will find a way of relaying the view that Sambo is not on ground. That was what they attempted to achieve at the strategic meeting”, the source said.
Last week, in what looks like a subtle confirmation that he would take a shot at the 2015 presidential race, President Jonathan had declared that he had no intention of dropping his deputy, Sambo, for any reason should he decide to run.
Political Adviser to President Jonathan, Ahmed Ali Gulak disclosed that when eventually the president made up his mind to run in 2015, he would do so with Sambo as his running mate.
His words: “I can tell you without mincing words that no serious minded member of the PDP has defected from the PDP in Kaduna in particular and the nation in general.
“As vice president of the country and having been elected on the platform of the PDP with the president who is the leader of the party, Architect Namadi Sambo is the deputy leader of the PDP who enjoys the desired support of all members.
“That aside, the president and his deputy are like 5 and 6 and nothing can separate them; if eventually Mr. President listens to the clamour of Nigerians for him to again present himself in 2015, which I am sure he will, I can assure you that he would run with Architect Namadi Sambo as his deputy because there is no need for any change. This is more so that Vice President Sambo has the support of the entire North and the region is solidly behind him,” Gulak said.
That apart, the voter strength of the North West is not just the highest in the country but also higher than the total number of registered voters of both the North East and North Central put together with a total of 18,900,543.
The voting strength of each zone is as follows:
Zones Voting Strength
South-east 7,028,560
South-weast 14,298,356
South-south 8,937,057
South-central 7,675,369
North-east 10,038,119
North-west 18,900,543
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