Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is pressing Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State to run for president next year, against the possible bid of the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, who was Obasanjo’s protege back in 2007.
Olusegun Obasanjo and Sule Lamido
Seven years ago, Obasanjo hand picked the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to succeed him, installed Jonathan as his Deputy, and also had a hand in Jonathan becoming President after the death of Yar’Adua in May 2010.
Obasanjo was the king maker in those years, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) merely rubber stamping his preferences.
His influence has diminished since Jonathan mounted the saddle in the Villa, but he is trying to claw back some of that clout by jumping into the 2015 jostlings.
TheNiche learnt that the real reason Obasanjo visited Dutse, capital of Jigawa State, on May 12 was to persuade Lamido not to yield to pressure to settle for the vice presidency on a joint ticket with Jonathan if he decides to contest for a second term.
Obasanjo also used the visit to fulfil his pledge to support girl-child education in Jigawa through the funding of his adopted school, Government Girls’ Secondary School, Kudai.
But zeroing in on his main interest, he told newsmen that Lamido’s record of performance qualifies him for nothing less than the top job.
Said he: “Going by Lamido’s background, performance and credibility, his competence and exposure, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with anybody in the country.
“If it is the wish of the people, it is okay. He did not tell me he is vying for the post [presidency], but being the wish of the people, let’s wait and see.
“Based on his track record, would you say he is not competent? He is competent; he can stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone in this nation. Our hope is to produce future leaders who would grow up with one Nigeria in their mind. I mean those who are committed and patriotic.”
This is the second time Obasanjo has publicly endorsed Lamido for Aso Rock. On May 19, 2013 he declared Jonathan a non-performing President who needed to be replaced with the likes of Lamido.
“You know you can help somebody to get a job but you cannot help him to do it. If somebody cannot do the job, we have Sule Lamido who is competent to do the job.
“Some people are saying one person can’t make changes; this is rubbish. If you have a competent person who knows where he is going, he can make changes along with his team that would impact the lives of people as we have seen it in Jigawa State.”
The implosion of the PDP at its special convention in Abuja on August 31, 2013, culminated in the defection of five of its governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on November 26, 2013.
Obasanjo reportedly prevailed on Lamido not to join the APC because his chances of becoming president in that party are slim.
Lamido, together with his counterpart in Niger State, Mu’azu Aliyu, remained in the PDP while Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) left for the APC.
With the recent reconciliation moves led by PDP Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, there are speculations that Lamido may be persuaded to settle for vice president, a position Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina is also believed to be eyeing.
But sources close to Lamido said Obasanjo told him not to settle for anything less than the presidency in the 2015 election.
Lamido, it was learnt, felt highly encouraged with Obasanjo’s backing.
Efforts to speak with Lamido’s Media Assistant, Umar Kyari, were not successful. He did not answer calls on his telephone and did not respond to a text message.
In case Obasanjo’s plan does not fly, Lamido has a plan B. He and Shema are hatching separate plots to replace Vice President Namadi Sambo as Jonathan’s running mate in the ballot in February 2015.
There is no known rift between Jonathan and Sambo, who is also from the North like Shema and Lamido, and Jonathan is yet to declare publicly that he will run for a second term.
Yet Shema and Lamido are reportedly firing on all cylinders to get Sambo off Jonathan’s ticket.
All the four men are members of the PDP. But the whisper in the Northern caucus of the party is that Sambo is an electoral liability.
In 2011, Shema and Lamido both won the vote to become Governor. Sambo won election in 2007 as Kaduna State Governor and served till May 2010. When Yar’Adua died in May 2010, Jonathan, his Deputy, became President and picked Sambo as Deputy.
However, Sambo lost in his polling unit in the presidential election in 2011. He was pelted by angry voters who wanted Muhammadu Buhari of the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a Northern candidate, to win.
Northern political leaders in the PDP, with an eye on the bigger picture, want a vice president in 2015 who can succeed Jonathan when his second term ends in 2019 – someone with a cross appeal to win, first the Northern ballot, before venturing South to garner votes.
A source in the PDP confided in TheNiche that most Northern leaders have realised that it is difficult to stop Jonathan from clinching the party’s presidential ticket.
Therefore, in their view, it makes sense to get a Northerner good enough to succeed Jonathan should the PDP rotate the presidency to the north in 2019.
A source in the PDP said the biggest problem among Northern leaders is deciding which part of the North gets the vice presidential slot.
The North West (comprising the seven States of Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto) is keen on producing Jonathan’s running mate.