The political climate in the northern region of Nigeria appears charged and over fermented against the upcoming 2015 presidential election slating to become a race between the Muslim north and the remainder of the country – judging by the political mechanizations unfolding at the sensitive parts of the region. Information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the vice president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Architect Namadi Sambo may have been amassing campaign arsenal against an expected run for the presidential ticket before it became clear that President Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan was going to join the lineup to contest for a second term in office.
Before it became clear of President Jonathan’s intent against the 2015 elections, a competent source close to the late Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa revealed to 247ureports.com of the pressure exerted on the late governor over the need to set a befitting political structure to enable for a potential 2015 presidential run. The vice president wanted the then governor to provide the financial resources and other enabling resources to bring the political structure to fruition. Our source revealed that vice president Namadi Sambo seemed in haste in his request from Yakowa. The source claimed that Yakowa mentioned that he was frequently pressured by the vice president concerning financing his political structure.
The source continued to reveal that Vice President Namadi Sambo had notched up the pressure on the late Governor to a near mischief level – after it became certain that the late Yakowa may not be willing to bow to the exerted pressure. The vice president opted to ask for a ‘refund’ from the Kaduna State government instead. The vice president specifically requested for the sum of N5billion.
The vice president, Arc Namadi Sambo was said to have told the late Yakowa that he had invested his private money worth N5billion in a free uniforms, free meals, and free books for Kaduna State primary schools. The vice president told the late governor that he launched the program for the whooping cost of N5billion – that the State was not financially buoyant at the time of the launching – so he decided to personally fund the project.
The Late Yakowa refused to release the requested N5billion largely because the project was launched as a white elephant project. No single school or pupil was provided with free uniforms or free books or free meals. Rather, the Kaduna school system showed a steady rate of dilapidation. The Kaduna State House of Assembly Committee on Education, whose committee was mandated to inspect some selected schools in 2011, found that “about half of the teachers in the primary and secondary schools are not qualified to teach.’’ The decay in the quality of teaching could be illustrated via a development in 2010 when SUBEB set a test for Primary Four teachers, in which 75 per cent of them failed. According to the Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Usman Mohammed, 1,300 teachers failed tests designed for primary 4 pupils. Out of the 1,599 teachers that took the test, only one scored 75%, 250 scored between 50 and 75% and 1,300 scored below 25%
With the death of Governor Patrick Yakowa on December 15, 2012, few days following the conduct of Local government elections in Kaduna, the road was cleared for the vice president. The immediate ascension of the former deputy governor to the seat of Governor saw the vice president, Namadi Sambo at a renewed vantage point to receive the long awaited N5billion refund from the present governor – who happens to be a one-time employee of Namadi Sambo – and a loyalist.
Governor Yero is said to have released the N5billion to the vice president. The release came amidst a new publication ranking Kaduna State as the second most indebted State in Nigeria – and the highest in northern Nigeria at an amount of $215.6million equivalent to N34.5billion. According to the Governor, the State is presently undergoing financial crunch in a manner that threatens the continued payment of civil servants wages.
Already, capital projects earmarked and/or captured in the 2013 appropriation bill have begun to suffer neglect due to non-availability of funds. On June 3, 2013, nearly four [4] months after the passing and signing of the 2013 appropriations bill, the house minority leader in the Kaduna State Assembly, Alhaji Shehu Adamu decried the slow implementation of the budget. He pointed specifically to the many capital projects consisting of Hospital works and upgrades – as having been abandoned by the Yero administration.
It is worthy of mention that the Yero administration since its inception on December 2012 has received from the federal accounts the sum of N50.09billion between December 2012 and July 2013 – and has received an additional N6.4billion in Internally Generated Revenue [IGR]. In his eight [8] months in office, the Yero administration has received N56.5billion. Also, the twenty three LGAs, in the eight months received N41.75billion.
Efforts to reach the Director General of Media for the Kaduna State government, Ahmed Maiyaka failed – as repeated attempts to reach him on his mobile phone were not answered by him. Text messages sent to his mobile phone was not responded to.
But in talking to the media aide to the Vice President, Umar Sani, he categorically denied the story – calling it a concocted story. In his words, “the story is not only false but maliciously concocted to smear the good reputation of the Vice President. The VP has repeatedly denied any Presidential ambition and has restated his loyalty to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at all times and in all fora. Similarly since the VP left Kaduna state he has never received a penny from the coffers of the state government under any guise. I therefore can authoritatively tell you that all the allegations are nothing but tissue of lies crafted to cast the VP in bad light. You are therefore enjoined to ignore such concoctions.”
