HOW SAMBO IS LOSING GROUND IN ASO ROCK

In the interview, Alhaji Zangon Daura had said, “There is nothing he can do,
and if God had helped us for governors to be with him, because they are not
with him unlike what it was during Atiku’s era, he would have been powerful.
But they are not with him today. If they were together, they would have been
working together, but we’re certain they are not.”
The powerlessness of the Vice-President is perceived through his inability to
take the lead in tackling the many burning issues in the North. In a chat with
Sunday Trust, a human rights activist based in Kaduna, Malam Shehu Sani,
explained this failure thus: “There are three fundamental problems confronting
the area called northern Nigeria. They include abject poverty, pervasive
insecurity and illiteracy and ignorance. Whoever wants to be seen as a northern
leader must earn his reputation in finding solution to the three problems. A
northern leader is not a title bestowed on anyone but is a reputation earned.
Vice President Namadi Sambo cannot be called a northern leader as long as these
problems continue to persist and further aggravated by the government he is
serving. So if Namadi Sambo is representing the northern region, his relevance
will be measured in terms of his capabilities to address these problems.”
However, Mallam Sani said he would describe Sambo’s failure in providing
leadership in the North in the context of the Constitution and the demand for
political loyalty to the president, a vogue in the country’s contemporary
political experience. According to him, “In Nigeria’s presidential system, the
president is the overall head of government and thus has all the powers; he is
the alpha and omega. There is little or no role the vice president can play.
The factors put into consideration while appointing a vice president is
loyalty. But all a loyalist could give to his boss is his loyalty and that is
what Sambo is giving. The blame for not being able to tackle the problems of
the North should not be on Sambo only, but should also be shared with northern
governors, ministers, senators and members representing the region in the House
of Representatives. Sambo’s government has woefully failed in addressing issues
challenging our unity and collective progress as a people. Therefore, if Sambo
is to be judged, he should be judged in accordance with the achievement of the
government he is serving and the government is obviously a total failure.”
One governor who has lamented the predicaments of the north under the current
administration is Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State. At the weekend, he
described the north as being marginalised in the face of massive outflow of
funds into the Niger Delta region, while government failed to do what is
appropriate to halt the Boko Haram insurgency that has crippled several
northern states. In his statement, Dr Kwankwaso said, “A situation whereby
Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is working for a particular region, a
Ministry entirely dedicated to serve a particular region and so many resources
invested in the SURE-P project are directed towards a particular part of the
country is not in the best interest of all Nigerians.”
Though Vice President Sambo has demonstrated his loyalty to his boss, President
Jonathan seems to listen to other ministers and aides, who may constitute his
kitchen cabinet. They include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister
for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella
Oduah, Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Niger
Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Mike
Ighiadomhe, and the Special Assistant to the President on Research
Documentation and Strategy, Dr Oronto Douglas.
However, the argument is that the vice president has failed to reassert himself
in national politics and in so doing he has allowed the president’s men from
the Niger Delta to usurp his conventional responsibilities.
Introspectively, the Office of the Vice President could be the most
uninteresting or frustrating for any man of vigour and intellect.  An
impeccable insider close to the vice president, who also confirmed to Sunday
Trust of Sambo’s frustrations, enumerated the VP’s predicaments, saying that
Sambo has indeed lost his initial swagger due to some debilitating course of
events.
“When you are Number Two, you hardly distinguish yourself and stand out. You
can’t claim to have anything to your credit. You can also suffer from the
misfortune of liability crisis. If the president is underperforming, it robs
off on you, the vice president.
“The vice president cannot have a better image of himself even when coming from
the North West which is the most populous geo-political zone in the country.
The North West is better than the three other zones in the North. It’s the only
zone that has seven states. It’s homogeneous, mainly Muslim and Hausa/Fulani.
Namadi Sambo has so far failed to tap fully into the electoral value provided
by the North West.
“I don’t think you can also credit Namadi Sambo with charisma. Unfortunately,
he comes along as a conservative politician. Politics requires colour. For
instance, the late Abubakar Rimi was a colourful politician. He’s colourful,
eloquent and had lot of charisma. Rimi was an orator who could move the people
to do things, but Namadi Sambo lacks these attributes.
“Otherwise, he’s a humble politician who has been a successful businessman.
Basically as a government contractor, it means he knows almost all those who
are in power. He knows those who matter and inner workings of government. Given
the complexities of Northern politics, it is required that whoever is holding
the office of the vice president in the present circumstances should be able to
fly the northern flag. He must be reliable and possess sound pedigree.”
Explaining that Sambo may not have been prepared for that exalted position before
he was elevated, the insider said, “The vice president has not done many years
to learn the ropes. He has not circulated widely within the political space and
did not earn the support of the political elite. When he was governor of Kaduna
State, that was where he could have built his political pedigree.
Unfortunately, he was short changed by his elevation to the position of vice
president. Throughout his stay in Kaduna, he has not consolidated his grip in
the politics of the state.
“Namadi Sambo needed sometime in Government House, Kaduna, to beat his
predecessor Ahmed Makarfi, who spent 8 years as governor, performed well and
garnered so much goodwill, before he could venture out to win the confidence of
the North,” the source said.
As Nigeria’s fourth elected vice president, Namadi Sambo was initially
influential in state matters as he was seen as one of the most powerful men in
President Jonathan’s Administration. By statutory regulation or convention, the
vice president oversees some governmental agencies and organizations and
supervises multi-billion naira projects that are crucial to President
Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.
He chairs the Nigeria Economic Intelligence Council (NEIC), the National
Planning Commission (NPC), and National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and
supervises the Independent Power Projects as the Alternate-Chairman of the
Presidential Action Committee on Power (PACP) and the Nigeria Emergency
Management Authority (NEMA). Statutorily, he is a member of the National
Security Council, National Defence Council and the vice chair of the Federal
Executive Council (FEC).
However, Sambo’s influence in government has ebbed in recent times just as the
president’s ever-growing coterie of Ijaw and Niger Delta acolytes have taken
over some of his responsibilities with impunity. The unwavering trust and
confidence he seems to have enjoyed from the president had eroded.
Reports recently indicated that the crisis of confidence between Sambo and the
president has worsened with the vice president having it rough due to suspicion
that he may not support the return of Jonathan in 2015.
The National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) which is directly under his
purview is now commandeered by Mr. Reynold Dagogo Jack, the chairman of the
Presidential Task Force on Power. Similarly, at the National Council on
Privatisation (NCP), which Sambo heads, things are not really going the vice
president’s way especially on matters relating to power reforms. The president,
Sunday Trust learnt, has not taken to Sambo’s counsels, but has chosen to
listen to only men he trusts.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has encroached into
the vice president’s sphere of influence, going by her control of the economic
management which renders the Economic Intelligence Council powerless. In
addition, when President Jonathan constituted a committee to work on the
renovation of the national stadiums in Lagos and Abuja, it was the Finance
Minister that was appointed to supervise the project.  Previously, the Vice
President used to be in charge of the Sports Commission, and should have been
the one to oversee such project.
Amidst all this, the vice president has done well to stay clear from limelight
and not to be seen as inordinately ambitious so as not to incur the wrath of
his boss. He has equally employed considerable restraint as any smart
politician would do amidst the ongoing agitation and speculation in the North
on who should succeed Jonathan in 2015. Although he has avoided open
identification with the campaign, Sambo’s associates and some PDP chieftains
from the North were said to have openly canvassed for support of his alleged
presidential project.

ANY PLOT TO REMOVE THE SAMBO?
In recent times, there have been speculations from the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) that President, sensing that Sambo may not possess the political asset he
requires to improve his image in the North, may be thinking of replacing him
with some other North-West governors, like Katsina State’s Barrister Ibrahim
Shema or Bauchi State’s Malam Isa Yuguda. While working on this story, the Vice
President’s aides, including his spokesman Malam Umar Sani, refused to speak to
Sunday Trust in spite of our numerous telephone calls through to his mobile
line and text messages. However, the body language of the president in this
regard is manifest in the apparent disregard for the Vice President in the dual
reconciliation project embarked upon by The Presidency.
One of such indication was that the Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih,
recently appointed by Jonathan, seemed to have taken the political initiative
to personally visit some northern governors who are alleged to be aggrieved and
may decamp to the yet to be registered All Progressives Congress (APC). Chief
Anenih visited Governor Kwankwaso, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State,
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, and a couple of others in the North.
Ordinarily, the Vice President should have engaged in such moves. Apart from
Chief Anenih, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has toured
many states in furtherance of the reconciliation moves.
Though the plot to remove him is still in doubt, Malam Sani believes such
measure would not help the North. According to him, “What Nigerians want is
that Jonathan should go away by 2015. His government has unleashed hardship on
the people. The hopes of the people have been quashed, their dreams shattered
by his government. In fact, his government is a threat to national unity, peace
and stability. So it is not simply about dropping Namadi Sambo.  We are
not demanding for a new VP, but a new government. What we want is that the
present Jonathan and Sambo-led government should simply pack their things
together with all their characters by 2015 and go. Those who are demanding for
a new VP are indirectly giving Jonathan a condition for continuity.
He added that, “ Under Jonathan’s government, Nigerians’ dreams have been
extinguished, Nigerians are no more safe in their homes and their places of
work or worship; the nation’s unity has been on its lowest ebb; so how can he
continue? Jonathan and Namadi should go and rest in the best interest of peace,
unity and stability of the country.”
For Dr Abubakar Siddiq of the Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU), Zaria, Vice President Muhammad Namadi Sambo doesn’t have the
required capacity and ability to lead the North, not to talk of influencing
anything in the region or sway some national policies in favour of the North.
Because the VP is not the President, there is no way he can stop the ongoing
crisis in the North. He therefore has little or nothing to do than to follow
the wishes of his boss, Dr Siddiq said.
“You know he is not the President. Being a Vice President makes him a
subordinate to the President. He cannot therefore do much in stopping the
crisis. You cannot compare him with Atiku because people usually differ in
their personality, courage and ability. In a nutshell, VP Sambo, is just a Vice
President who always wants to follow the wishes of his boss,” Dr Siddiq said.