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.”
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