The making of VP Sambo

Namadi Sambo, Vice President of Nigeria

Justice Katsina-Alu, Chief Justice of Nigeria last week swore in Namadi Sambo, former governor of Kaduna state, as Nigeria’s Vice President
By Stephen Ubanna
When President Goodluck Jonathan submitted the name of Namadi Sambo, former governor of Kaduna state to the National Assembly as the country’s Vice President, Monday May 17, 2010, not many people expected a speedy confirmation. This is because of the petitions and allegations of misappropriation of funds hanging on his neck which were yet to be investigated. One of the petitions which had earlier been submitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and later to the National Assembly by Sadau Garba, a Kaduna based Lawyer had accused Sambo of involvement in a N53 billion contract scandal. Garba had claimed in the petition that the governor had awarded a N35 billion water project contract in Kaduna and another N15 billion water contract to Mothercat Construction Company in Zaria which turned out to be white elephant projects. The petitioner said the former governor had deducted from the state treasury N1.2 billion for hosting of the U-17 world Cup competition in Kaduna and another fraudulent deduction from the joint Local Government Accounts. More worrisome was the loans which the petitioner said the former governor collected but was not reflected in the state yearly budget.
Also a group ‘Kaduna Rescue Mission’, had accused Sambo of being a spendthrift. The group said Kaduna state under Sambo had collected N40 billion, which was more than what his predecessor, Ahmed Makarfi, collected in eght years but was unable to embark on significant project with it. The group had described the selection of Sambo for Vice President as a , ‘celebration of Mediocrity’. The group and others opposed to the nomination of Sambo as Vice President called on the National Assembly to investigate the allegations instead of going ahead to confirm him. The Source learnt that there was apprehension among Sambo loyalists when the pressure on the National Assembly from both official and unofficial quarters became too much. The apprehension became worse when Ayogu Eze, Chairman Senate Committee on information said the ‘ President’s letter on the choice of Sambo would be read on the floor of the House and a date fixed for the screening’.
A presidency source said the President did not want the National Assembly to delay Sambo’s confirmation. He was said to have sent out his foot soldiers to reach out to the National Assembly members. The governors were also said to have mobilized support for Sambo. They were said to have reached out to the lawmakers from their respective states to approve the nominee. Northern lawmakers who were initially opposed to Sambo’s nomination as Vice President later turned in their support. ‘We have discussed with him, and we understand him better.He has promised to be fair and just in office,’ the lawmakers said. The Magazine learnt that the Senate President , David Mark also prevailed on the Senators to give President Jonathan all the necessary backings to enable him deliver on the administration’s programmes in the remaining ten months . It was not surprising when Sambo, the Vice President designate’s name was mentioned at its plenary session on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, it received unanimous votes.The House of Representatives was initially rowdy in debating the President’s letter nominating Sambo as Vice President but eventually gave its approval. Analysts say, Dimeji Bankole , the Speaker of the House did a yeoman job to bring the Reps to order .
Some disclosed that after the National Assembly clearance, Sambo was acommpanied by some governors on a courtesy call on President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa. The governors that formed the train were Gabriel Suswan, Benue, Aliyu Wammako, Sokoto, Saidu Dakin-gari, Kebbi, Olusegun Oni, Ekiti, Isa Yuguda, Bauchi and Senator Isaiah Balat.
This is the first time in the history of Democratic dispensation in Nigeria that a sitting President has requested the National Assembly to give approval to his Vice Presidential nominee.
Emeka Nwosu ,a legal luminary said Sambo qualifies to be Nigeria’s Vice President. ‘He is a successful business man and politician’. Eze, Senate image maker corroborated Nwosu’s view. ‘We are very comfortable with his credentials and he has the wherewithal to do the job’.
The selection of Sambo as the Vice President caught many people by surprise including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, PAC, retired Lt General Theophilous Danjuma. This is because they had no input in the selection of the Vice President. More so, he was not among the six top contenders for the position. The top contenders were Yayale Ahmed, Secretary to the government of the Federation, Mohammed Makarfi, former governor of Kaduna state and Chairman , Senate Committee on Finance, governors Babangida Aliyu, and Sule Lamido of Niger and Jigawa states respectively. Others were Murktar Shagari, Deputy governor of Sokoto State and Buba Marwa, Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa.
Sambo was elected the governor of kaduna state in 2007. He is 56 years old. He had his early education in Babtist Primary school Kakuri, Kaduna in 1959, before moving to Kobi primary school in Bauchi. He attended Government Secondary school , now Alhuda College , Zaria between 1961 and 1971.,
After his education at the school of Basic Studies , he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 1972 and 1973. He bagged his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture from the same University. It is expected that with the inauguration of the Vice President, President Jonathan and his team would get cracking.
Already Jonathan has vowed to continue with vigour, the fight against corruption, give Nigerians a new electoral reform that would be acceptable to all and a guaranteed stable power supply
Political analysts observe that the speedy approval of the Vice President nominee and inauguration by the Chief Justice, Justice Katsina-Alu, without delay, is an indication that both the National Assembly and the Judiciary are ready to give President Jonathan the desired support to succeed.
There were also initial fears in both official and unofficial quarters that the choice of Sambo, from the North West geo-political zone of Nigeria is a sign that President Jonathan wants to contest the 2011 election. Vice President Sambo has since resumed office in his inaugural speech, he said, he shared the same priorities as President Jonathan, and assured of a partnership that would work. “I believe that my choice to occupy this office is higed on the belief that I will bring my wealth of experience in the private as well as the public sector to bear in the discharge of my duties and actualisation of Mr. President’s lofthy programmes for our dear country,” he said.