North West and Namadi (na) Sambo

The North West, with seven states and 18.9 million registered voters offers the biggest prize for any presidential candidate. So far, voters in this geo-political zone have collected 15, 827, 842 permanent voters cards (PVCs) with which they hope to dismiss President Goodluck Jonathan this March. The votes of the North West zone are particularly coveted by every presidential candidate.
Unfortunately, the people’s will in the impending elections is being subverted by the activities of Vice President Namadi Sambo who has descended with huge bags of money to bribe voters in the North West. There can never be a free and fair election where politicians seek to influence how people vote by giving them money, whether it is hard earned or stolen from the public treasury.
Sambo is a lightweight politician who has no significant following in the North West. His attempt to create a political base made him prop up Alhaji Tanko Yakasai to contest the chairmanship of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Having utterly failed, Yakasai formed the obsequious Northern Elders Council (NEC), a shadowy group confined to periodic issuance of press release in support of the Jonathan presidency. Of course, Yakasai, on account of his bread and butter politics, can never be elected to the chair of ACF.
Sambo’s problem in the North West flows directly from his inability to exercise any meaningful influence on the Jonathan presidency. Sambo is a perfect example of a spare tyre. In six years, Sambo hasn’t been able to attract any meaningful project to the North West. The so called independent power project being built for Kaduna is stillborn. The attempt to revive the Kaduna textile plants has floundered. The so-called Abuja-Kaduna single railway, which Labaran Maku repeatedly vowed would be commissioned in 2014, and on which Sambo staked his reputation, has remained a white elephant.
The simmering rivalry between Sambo and Sule Lamido, Governor of Jigawa State on one hand and on another level between him and Ibrahim Shehu Shema, Governor of Katsina State, over who among the three should run with Jonathan in 2015, also damaged Sambo’s standing. Each of the two north western governors had at one time or the other been touted as possible replacement for Sambo.
In Kaduna, the Sambo boy, Muktar Ramalan Yero, has failed to distinguish himself as a serious governor and is headed for defeat in both the presidential and gubernatorial elections. Early this year, Yero’s frustration with the opposition’s challenge culminated in his being heard on tape threatening the well being of Nasir El-Rufa’i and APC supporters. After promising Jonathan two million votes, the President was surprised to discover that not many people turned up to listen to him when he went to Kaduna to campaign. This explains the PDP desperation to use obscene amount of money to buy the loyalty of voters.
Even in the presidency, Sambo is not taken serious and Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is reportedly more powerful than him. Sambo doesn’t pull his weight at all. At the PDP presidential campaign rally in Nasarawa, he was told point blank that he will not be given the party’s presidential ticket in 2019. In an organised political clime, Sambo would have been given the opportunity to make that stunning announcement himself. Obama may not be inclined to having Joe Biden clinch the Democratic Party ticket for the 2016 presidential run, but he dares not announce that, least of all in the heat of a re-election campaign. Sambo isn’t a leader; he’s a follower and will remain so.
Sambo doesn’t seem understand that the essence of a joint ticket is to be able to occasionally sway things in favour of one’s geo-political zone, or at least achieve balance. The role of a Vice President goes beyond flapping one’s starched babban riga and following in the footsteps of the principal. Even when the membership of the so called national conference was skewed against the Muslims, Sambo couldn’t do anything. The Sultan had to lead a delegation to Aso Villa to complain to the President that Muslims were under-represented and all Sambo could do was to join in the photo session, and despite Jonathan’s promise to announce fresh nominations to ensure fair representation, nothing was ever heard about the matter again. Yet, Jonathan has promised to implement the decisions of the national conference if he’s elected and you ask what benefit is there in the resolutions of a conference heavily tilted against Muslims?
The North West wants a vice president who’s faithful to the country and not some clueless president. Sambo should be loyal to the country, not Jonathan. The clerics, traditional rulers and other special interest groups are free to collect every dime Namadina Sambo hands them, but they should ask themselves why he didn’t give them this awesome amount of money in 2013 or 2014. They should also ask themselves what job Sambo has done to earn this breathtaking wealth and if there is no clear answer, then they should take the money and vote according to their conscience. If the North West’s voters settle for Sambo’s money instead of the free and fair elections promised by this government, then our people are damned.