Anxiety heightens in the camp of the Vice President Namadi Sambo on
Monday, ahead of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of interest in
the 2015 presidential race.
The elaborate declaration is billed to hold on Tuesday (today) at the
Eagles Square, Abuja.
Investigation showed that there was heightened anxiety in the Vice
President’s camp over whether the President would retain him as his running
mate or not.
There have been media reports that there was pressure on Jonathan, who
has been adopted as the sole candidate by all organs of the party to drop Sambo
as his running mate in the election.
Those who were putting the pressure had hinged their position on the
fact that although the Vice President is loyal to the President, he lacks the
required electoral value to deliver his North-West zone to the Peoples
Democratic Party.
Political figures, such as Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and
Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, had so far been mentioned as people
interested in Sambo’s job.
Lately, the name of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, also cropped up. Mu’azu had however denied nursing
such an ambition.
Multiple Presidency sources said the fear of the unknown was real in
Sambo’s camp.
They admitted that huge pressure was being piled on the President to
drop Sambo if he was genuinely interested in winning the election.
“The fear is real. The pressure on the President is very intense. One of
the governors mentioned is not hiding his ambition. What we are not sure of is
whether the President will succumb to the pressure. We are eagerly waiting for
how it will play out at the declaration ground on Tuesday,” one of the sources
said.
He said some party chiefs were expecting the President to use his
declaration to make his position on the matter known in order to douse the
tension.
Another source however said it would be a tactical error on Jonathan’s
part to make his position known on the matter at his declaration.
He said the President would prefer to keep mum on the issue until during
the national convention of the party, where his sole candidature would be
ratified.
“Running mates are not named at declaration rallies. That will be
tantamount to a tactical error. The idea is that running mates are named in
acceptance speech at the national convention. Anything done earlier than that
will open the candidate up for attack from those not happy with his choice,” he
said.
The source added that there was no denying the fact that many people
were eyeing the Vice President’s seat.
This, he said, was clear from the steady media propaganda being carried
out on the matter lately.
Another source however said Jonathan might not be planning to drop
Sambo.
The source pointed to the fact that the Chairman of the Presidential
Declaration Committee, Dr. Haliru Bello, was one of the Vice President’s
loyalists as a proof of his position.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and
Publicity, Umar Sani, declined comment on the matter when approached him on
Monday.
But the BOT Chairman of the Party ,Tony Anenih recently in Katsina told
Governor Shema pointblank that the President will run with Sambo.