Pressure mounts on president to choose new
running mate.
The Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has
been asked to restrain the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) from fielding President Goodluck
Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the
February 14, 2015 election. The plaintiffs, Mase
Daphine Acho, Saeeq Umar Sarki, both lawyers,
and Murtala Abubakar, also asked the court to
stop Vice-President Namadi Sambo from running
along with Jonathan because the duo is ineligible
for reelection. Besides the PDP, Jonathan and
Sambo, another defendant in the suit, filed on
Friday, is the Independent National Electoral
Commissioner (INEC).
The moves to stop the president came barely a
day after his adoption by the PDP as its sole
presidential candidate for the 2015 election.
Although the party’s National Executive
Committee, which adopted Jonathan at a
meeting in Abuja last Thursday was silent on
whether or not he would run again with Sambo,
the party clarified yesterday that since both have
harmonious working relationship, the president
would run with his deputy in 2015.
Irrespective of the assurances, New Telegraph
learnt at the weekend that the president has
come under intense pressure to drop Sambo.
According to the court process in the suit seek-
ing to stop the president from running obtained
at the weekend, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Mustapha
Ibrahim, Mr. Abdul Mohammed and Aliyu Lemu,
argued that by virtue of the Supreme Court’s
decision in Marwa V Nyako (2012) 6 NWLR (Part
1296) at 199, both Jonathan and Sambo were
not qualified to be elected as president and vice-
president respectively. The plaintiffs said
Jonathan and Sambo were caught by the
provisions of the constitution which state that no
person can stay in office of the president and
vice president for a period beyond eight years.
They submitted that Jonathan and Sambo, at the
expiration of their current tenure, would have
held office for five years. The plaintiffs also
stated that Jonathan and Sambo had held office
for two terms recognised by the 1999
Constitution to wit: (i) the first term was held to
conclude the unexpired term of the late President
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua between May 6, 2010 to
May 29, 2011and the second term is still being
served from May 29, 2011 to May 29, 2015.
The plaintiffs, however, asked the court to
declare that Jonathan and Sambo do not have
the capacity to serve as president and vice-
president respectively for another term of four
years after the completion of their tenure in office
in view of the combined effect of the provisions
of sections 135(2) (a) and 137(b) of the 1999
Constitution.
They further asked the court to declare that
Jonathan and Sambo, having spent five years in
office as president and vicepresident respectively,
are not eligible to contest for the office of
president and vice-president for another term of
four years thereby amounting to a contravention
of the combined provisions of sections 135(2)
(a) and 137(b) of the constitution.
Other reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are: A
declaration that the first oath of office subscribed
to by Jonathan on May 6, 2010, being the oath
of office administered on him to occupy the office
of president for the purpose of completion of the
unexpired term of office of the late Yar’Adua
must be taken into cognizance in computing the
number of years that he has served and can
serve as president, in determining the effect of
the combined provisions of sections 135(2) (a)
and 137(1) (b) of the constitution.
An order of the court restraining INEC from
recognising Jonathan and Sambo as presidential
candidate and running mate picked by the PDP
or any other political party for the 2015
presidential election. The plaintiffs said allowing
Jonathan and Sambo to contest in the 2015
elections would amount to a breach of the 1999
Constitution, which the duo had sworn to
uphold.
They said the intervention of the court was
required for the interpretation of the provisions of
the 1999 Constitution. According to them, it will
be colossal waste of resources to allow
Jonathan and Sambo to run even when they
were ineligible to contest.
The defendants are yet to file their defence to
the suit. However, New Telegraph learnt
yesterday that the president has come under
more pressure to drop Sambo as his running
mate in the 2015 election. The pressure, it was
learnt, is coming from some powerful elements in
the party who had hitherto opposed Jonathan’s
emergence but lately decided to support him on
certain conditions. One of the conditions given
was that Jonathan would drop Sambo and
replace him with one of the serving governors
from the North-West geopolitical zone.
Those pushing this position have tipped Governor
Sule Lamido ( Jigawa State) and Governor
Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina State) as a
possible replacement for Sambo. Also, Governor
Babangida Mu’azu Aliyu of Niger State may also
be considered for the position.
Although Aliyu is from the North-Central and not
North-West where Sambo hails from, the role the
governor has played in recent years as Chairman
of the Northern Governors’ Forum has made him
a prominent figure in the region. Presidency
sources told New Telegraph that although
Sambo had a cordial working relationship with
his boss, the vice-president was said to have
lacked the much needed political clout and
electoral value that could make a Jonathan/
Sambo ticket attractive to the electorate in the
North.
“A lot of politicians in the North do not reckon
with Sambo because he does not really belong to
the ‘core group’ of northern leaders. Even though
he was the governor of Kaduna State, the old
political capital of the North, Sambo is perceived
as too lukewarm and not vibrant enough to
protect the interest of the North. In fact, some
politicians in Kaduna have asked Jonathan to
drop him (Sambo) or else they will move their
support to the All Progressives Congress ( APC)
in 2015.
“The feeling among Northern politicians is that
Sambo is unpopular and if Jonathan wants to
win the votes of the North, he must run with a
Northern figure who is charismatic and
commands respect among the Northern elite,”
the source said. The vice-president may,
however, survived the plot as the PDP yesterday
expressed the hope that Jonathan will run in
2015 with him .
According to the party, the duo has been working
harmoniously and there will be no reason to
change a “winning team.” It also said the
automatic ticket granted the president last
Thursday might not extend to governors and
lawmakers seeking re-election.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa
Metuh, who described Sambo as “the second
most loyal vice-president in the country” said at
a press briefing in Abuja that many people were
trying to speculate on whether Jonathan and
Sambo would run a joint ticket in 2015. “Why
don’t we wait until the president declares?
The PDP has mentioned that it is a winning
team. The president has done very well. I believe
there is no need to maginfy or attempt to import
any difference between the president and the
vice-president. The president and the
vicepresident have worked so well.
“The vice-president has been the second most
loyal vice-president in the history of this country
besides the president when he was the vice-
president. I believe he enjoys the confidence of
the president. And by 2015 elections, if the
president accepts to run, then we will be able
take it to the next level,” he stated. On whether
governors and lawmakers seeking re-election too
will benefit from the automatic ticket given to
Jonathan, Metuh said their cases were not
similar.
“The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the
PDP, besides the national convention, is the
highest decision making organ of the party. And
it is therefore only the national caucus and
executive that can handle such decisions. Some
decisions do not go down the line to states and
local governments and so on.
There is only one NEC of the party but we have
36 states and 774 local government executives.
So the decision of the NEC can only be reversed
by the national convention,” he said.
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