PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday night approved the choice of the governor of Kaduna State, Architect Namadi Sambo as the new vice-president.
Sources in the presidency confirmed that President Jonathan has sent letters nominating Sambo as his deputy to both houses of the National Assembly.

It was confirmed that the Senate and the House of Representatives will consider the confirmation of the new vice-president-designate today.

It was confirmed that the president had come under intense pressure before arriving at the choice and that he had insisted on picking someone he could freely relate and work with in line with the advice of the Northern traditional rulers and the Arewa Consultative forum(ACF) which sent representations to him.

Sources further indicated that President Jonathan decided to do away with the candidates who had more people lobbying for him.

A source said that the president was looking for the person who would not only contribute meaningfully to the development of the country but someone who will easily recognise the urgency in  carrying out the task at hand.

It was also gathered that Jonathan chose Sambo because he had  the fewest mention in the media in the run up to his nomination.

A source had told the Nigerian Tribune that President Jonathan had earlier at a meeting with his close aides reviewed all  likely candidates put before him and that some of the names had been dropped due to different reasons.

The deputy governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari was dropped  on the strength of what a source called security reports, while the two nominees from the Senate, Senator Ahmed Makarfi(Kaduna) and Mahmud Kanti Bello (Katsina) were said to have been dropped due to the incoherent voices coming from the Senate.

Members of the Northern Senators Forum  had announced the choice of the former governor of Kaduna State, Makarfi, while Kanti Bello rejected the choice and labelled it “silly.”

A source said on the choice of Sambo: “The governor of Kaduna state is credited with some achievements in his short stay in office. He had revived the railway system in the state and is seen to be building the new Kaduna. The president believes that his experience and dedication to service will be useful at the national level.

“Mr. President is impatient to deliver on the goods that is why he had to take his time and search for the right person who will help join him in actualising the mandate.”

Earlier on Wednesday, 26 of the 36 state governors had met under the aegis of the Governors’ Forum at the Kwara Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.

The governors, who refused to address the press drove in two buses to the Presidential Villa and met with the president.

It was gathered that the president had hinted the governors of his decision to pick Sambo and that the meeting ratified the choice and that the governors decided to visit the president to congratulate him on the choice.

Meanwhile, the Special  Assistant on National Assembly Matters  to  President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, disclosed, on Wednesday, in Abuja  that  President Jonathan would contest.

He even laid to rest the rumour  that the president might contest under another political arrangement, as he said that  he would contest on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“If you look generally, almost everybody across the South and the North  geopolitical zone of the country has been contributing freely on the issue and the general consensus is that he should contest. In fact, the constitution also allows him to contest. Section 14 of the constitution also helps him, because there must be justice and equity; there is no reason for which you can ask him not to contest. There is no personal reason for which you can ask him not to contest; there is no moral reason which you can ask him not to contest. He will contest and he should contest and personally I will vote for him,” he said. Dr Ojougboh,  who briefed  National Assembly reporters, said that if  Jonathan contested, it would not be the first time such a thing had  happened, citing America as an  example.

According to him: “It will not be the first time issues like this would happen. In America, you will all recall when Richard Nixon left office and his deputy took over and he eventually contested.  Also, when John  Kennedy died, his deputy took over and he equally contested.”

The presidential aide  added that “if Jonathan contests he would win and his victory at the election,  I would call it  a renewal of mandate, it will deepen the peace in the Niger Delta; it will also serve to deepen our democracy.”

On  the issue of zoning, Ojougboh believes it is  an internal matter within the PDP, adding, “PDP is a party. The party is an organ for the quest for power and, in the organ, there are many branches; there are some organs in the party. So the party, at the correct time, will come together and resolve such issues. Let me tell you,  zoning or no zoning, there is no moral justification for anybody to ask Jonathan not to run. That is one thing that is paramount in the mind of everybody.

“What offence has he committed that you will ask him not to run? What is the reason, because of zoning? In any case, the party will resolve that and I can assure you that it will be resolved in his interest.”

When asked  whether he had the mandate of President Jonathan to speak on his behalf, he said that “is not the issue; it is a general debate that is ongoing and then it is those of us who work for the president and work with him, it is our own right to join the debate and we are joining it and then we are telling you that the president will contest. That is what we want to make very clear and if you have any reason for which you think the president should not contest, let us know, then we can debate it.

“In fact, very senior citizens, both from the North and from the South, are asking him to contest and that is the issue and, in fact, that is the politics of the moment. Let me tell you, Jonathan winning in 2011 will change Nigeria. It will bring what we are looking for. Look at the momentum he is putting into looking for solutions to the power problem; look at how he is concentrated; he is ready to work, that is one thing I can assure you. Everybody will agree when you see the programme he has on the ground and what he is putting on the ground and when they begin to manifest, you will see that there is no need for anybody to ask him not to contest.”

The aide said that if Jonathan contested it would not contradict the  statement he made in an interview on the Cable News Network  (CNN). He said: “Things have changed; situation is not static. Events of that time when he gave that interview and the events of today are different. Today, he has in place the Federal Executive Council properly constituted by him. Today, he is the full president of the country.”

He added, “these are issues that were not there then. Now that the situation is like this, we believe that this man has the luck that Nigeria needs and that luck that this man has will transmit into physical development, that is what we are saying. In fact, it will not derail him. If any thing, it will inspire him, because he now has to perform to show Nigerians that they need to vote for him.

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