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The Powerlessness of the Vice-President under the President Goodluck Jonathan ( Describing him as powerless )
Vice President Namadi Sambo’s inability to lead the way in tackling the numerous crises in the North has brought to question his relevance to the region
Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and later Minister of Environment in the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo spoke the minds of many northern leaders on the Desmins Independent Television (DITV) in Kaduna last Monday. On the programme, Alhaji Daura lamented the status of Vice President Namadi Sambo under President Goodluck Jonathan, describing him as powerless. According to him, apart from the fact that Architect Sambo is not given many powers under the 1999 Constitution, Alhaji Daura remarked that, compared to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the current Vice President is in a pathetic situation because governors do not rally around him.
In the interview, Alhaji Zangon Daura had said, “There is nothing he can do, and if God had helped us for governors to be with him, because they are not with him unlike what it was during Atiku’s era, he would have been powerful. But they are not with him today. If they were together, they would have been working together, but we’re certain they are not.”
The powerlessness of the Vice-President is perceived through his inability to take the lead in tackling the many burning issues in the North. In a chat with Sunday Trust, a human rights activist based in Kaduna, Malam Shehu Sani, explained this failure thus: “There are three fundamental problems confronting the area called northern Nigeria. They include abject poverty, pervasive insecurity and illiteracy and ignorance. Whoever wants to be seen as a northern leader must earn his reputation in finding solution to the three problems. A northern leader is not a title bestowed on anyone but is a reputation earned. Vice President Namadi Sambo cannot be called a northern leader as long as these problems continue to persist and further aggravated by the government he is serving. So if Namadi Sambo is representing the northern region, his relevance will be measured in terms of his capabilities to address these problems.”
However, Mallam Sani said he would describe Sambo’s failure in providing leadership in the North in the context of the Constitution and the demand for political loyalty to the president, a vogue in the country’s contemporary political experience. According to him, “In Nigeria’s presidential system, the president is the overall head of government and thus has all the powers; he is the alpha and omega. There is little or no role the vice president can play. The factors put into consideration while appointing a vice president is loyalty. But all a loyalist could give to his boss is his loyalty and that is what Sambo is giving. The blame for not being able to tackle the problems of the North should not be on Sambo only, but should also be shared with northern governors, ministers, senators and members representing the region in the House of Representatives. Sambo’s government has woefully failed in addressing issues challenging our unity and collective progress as a people. Therefore, if Sambo is to be judged, he should be judged in accordance with the achievement of the government he is serving and the government is obviously a total failure.”
One governor who has lamented the predicaments of the north under the current administration is Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State. At the weekend, he described the north as being marginalised in the face of massive outflow of funds into the Niger Delta region, while government failed to do what is appropriate to halt the Boko Haram insurgency that has crippled several northern states. In his statement, Dr Kwankwaso said, “A situation whereby Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is working for a particular region, a Ministry entirely dedicated to serve a particular region and so many resources invested in the SURE-P project are directed towards a particular part of the country is not in the best interest of all Nigerians.”
Though Vice President Sambo has demonstrated his loyalty to his boss, President Jonathan seems to listen to other ministers and aides, who may constitute his kitchen cabinet. They include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Mike Ighiadomhe, and the Special Assistant to the President on Research Documentation and Strategy, Dr Oronto Douglas.
However, the argument is that the vice president has failed to reassert himself in national politics and in so doing he has allowed the president’s men from the Niger Delta to usurp his conventional responsibilities.
Introspectively, the Office of the Vice President could be the most uninteresting or frustrating for any man of vigour and intellect. An impeccable insider close to the vice president, who also confirmed to Sunday Trust of Sambo’s frustrations, enumerated the VP’s predicaments, saying that Sambo has indeed lost his initial swagger due to some debilitating course of events.
“When you are Number Two, you hardly distinguish yourself and stand out. You can’t claim to have anything to your credit. You can also suffer from the misfortune of liability crisis. If the president is underperforming, it robs off on you, the vice president.
“The vice president cannot have a better image of himself even when coming from the North West which is the most populous geo-political zone in the country. The North West is better than the three other zones in the North. It’s the only zone that has seven states. It’s homogeneous, mainly Muslim and Hausa/Fulani. Namadi Sambo has so far failed to tap fully into the electoral value provided by the North West.
“I don’t think you can also credit Namadi Sambo with charisma. Unfortunately, he comes along as a conservative politician. Politics requires colour. For instance, the late Abubakar Rimi was a colourful politician. He’s colourful, eloquent and had lot of charisma. Rimi was an orator who could move the people to do things, but Namadi Sambo lacks these attributes.
“Otherwise, he’s a humble politician who has been a successful businessman. Basically as a government contractor, it means he knows almost all those who are in power. He knows those who matter and inner workings of government. Given the complexities of Northern politics, it is required that whoever is holding the office of the vice president in the present circumstances should be able to fly the northern flag. He must be reliable and possess sound pedigree.”
Explaining that Sambo may not have been prepared for that exalted position before he was elevated, the insider said, “The vice president has not done many years to learn the ropes. He has not circulated widely within the political space and did not earn the support of the political elite. When he was governor of Kaduna State, that was where he could have built his political pedigree. Unfortunately, he was short changed by his elevation to the position of vice president. Throughout his stay in Kaduna, he has not consolidated his grip in the politics of the state.
“Namadi Sambo needed sometime in Government House, Kaduna, to beat his predecessor Ahmed Makarfi, who spent 8 years as governor, performed well and garnered so much goodwill, before he could venture out to win the confidence of the North,” the source said.
As Nigeria’s fourth elected vice president, Namadi Sambo was initially influential in state matters as he was seen as one of the most powerful men in President Jonathan’s Administration. By statutory regulation or convention, the vice president oversees some governmental agencies and organizations and supervises multi-billion naira projects that are crucial to President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.
He chairs the Nigeria Economic Intelligence Council (NEIC), the National Planning Commission (NPC), and National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and supervises the Independent Power Projects as the Alternate-Chairman of the Presidential Action Committee on Power (PACP) and the Nigeria Emergency Management Authority (NEMA). Statutorily, he is a member of the National Security Council, National Defence Council and the vice chair of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
However, Sambo’s influence in government has ebbed in recent times just as the president’s ever-growing coterie of Ijaw and Niger Delta acolytes have taken over some of his responsibilities with impunity. The unwavering trust and confidence he seems to have enjoyed from the president had eroded.
Reports recently indicated that the crisis of confidence between Sambo and the president has worsened with the vice president having it rough due to suspicion that he may not support the return of Jonathan in 2015.
The National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) which is directly under his purview is now commandeered by Mr. Reynold Dagogo Jack, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power. Similarly, at the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which Sambo heads, things are not really going the vice president’s way especially on matters relating to power reforms. The president, Sunday Trust learnt, has not taken to Sambo’s counsels, but has chosen to listen to only men he trusts.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has encroached into the vice president’s sphere of influence, going by her control of the economic management which renders the Economic Intelligence Council powerless. In addition, when President Jonathan constituted a committee to work on the renovation of the national stadiums in Lagos and Abuja, it was the Finance Minister that was appointed to supervise the project. Previously, the Vice President used to be in charge of the Sports Commission, and should have been the one to oversee such project.
Amidst all this, the vice president has done well to stay clear from limelight and not to be seen as inordinately ambitious so as not to incur the wrath of his boss. He has equally employed considerable restraint as any smart politician would do amidst the ongoing agitation and speculation in the North on who should succeed Jonathan in 2015. Although he has avoided open identification with the campaign, Sambo’s associates and some PDP chieftains from the North were said to have openly canvassed for support of his alleged presidential project.
ANY PLOT TO REMOVE THE SAMBO?
In recent times, there have been speculations from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that President, sensing that Sambo may not possess the political asset he requires to improve his image in the North, may be thinking of replacing him with some other North-West governors, like Katsina State’s Barrister Ibrahim Shema or Bauchi State’s Malam Isa Yuguda. While working on this story, the Vice President’s aides, including his spokesman Malam Umar Sani, refused to speak to Sunday Trust in spite of our numerous telephone calls through to his mobile line and text messages. However, the body language of the president in this regard is manifest in the apparent disregard for the Vice President in the dual reconciliation project embarked upon by The Presidency.
One of such indication was that the Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, recently appointed by Jonathan, seemed to have taken the political initiative to personally visit some northern governors who are alleged to be aggrieved and may decamp to the yet to be registered All Progressives Congress (APC). Chief Anenih visited Governor Kwankwaso, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, and a couple of others in the North. Ordinarily, the Vice President should have engaged in such moves. Apart from Chief Anenih, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has toured many states in furtherance of the reconciliation moves.
Though the plot to remove him is still in doubt, Malam Sani believes such measure would not help the North. According to him, “What Nigerians want is that Jonathan should go away by 2015. His government has unleashed hardship on the people. The hopes of the people have been quashed, their dreams shattered by his government. In fact, his government is a threat to national unity, peace and stability. So it is not simply about dropping Namadi Sambo. We are not demanding for a new VP, but a new government. What we want is that the present Jonathan and Sambo-led government should simply pack their things together with all their characters by 2015 and go. Those who are demanding for a new VP are indirectly giving Jonathan a condition for continuity.
He added that, “ Under Jonathan’s government, Nigerians’ dreams have been extinguished, Nigerians are no more safe in their homes and their places of work or worship; the nation’s unity has been on its lowest ebb; so how can he continue? Jonathan and Namadi should go and rest in the best interest of peace, unity and stability of the country.”
For Dr Abubakar Siddiq of the Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Vice President Muhammad Namadi Sambo doesn’t have the required capacity and ability to lead the North, not to talk of influencing anything in the region or sway some national policies in favour of the North.
Because the VP is not the President, there is no way he can stop the ongoing crisis in the North. He therefore has little or nothing to do than to follow the wishes of his boss, Dr Siddiq said.
“You know he is not the President. Being a Vice President makes him a subordinate to the President. He cannot therefore do much in stopping the crisis. You cannot compare him with Atiku because people usually differ in their personality, courage and ability. In a nutshell, VP Sambo, is just a Vice President who always wants to follow the wishes of his boss,” Dr Siddiq said.
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