Group backs Sambo for 2015 mate to Jonathan

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

A political group, Civil Obligations and Sustainable Peace, has dismissed the insinuation by some politicians that the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, is a political liability to President Goodluck Jonathan, arguing that he is the best mate for Jonathan in 2015.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the chairman of the group, Daniel Nkpanam, said Sambo is rather an extremely useful and dependable political ally to President Jonathan.

The group said that against the backdrop of a statement credited to former Emir of Gwandu, Mustapha Jokolo, that President Jonathan should drop Sambo, the President still has confidence in his Vice, hence he entrusted in him the responsibility to take care of over N200 billion for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME).

“We wouldn’t have reacted to Jokolo’s ranting but for the fact that it is coming at a time when the elections are around the corner, this apparently shows that he is doing the bidding of his paymasters, who are bent on causing confusion and disharmony in our nation.

“The President and his Vice have been enjoying a cordial working relationship since the inception of their administration, which is no doubt second to none since the advent of the current democratic dispensation,” the statement reads in part, even as it called on elder statesmen to always guard their utterances.

It added that Jonathan and Sambo are “obviously a perfect and divine combination, the mutual understanding between them is what has translated into the success of the transformation agenda, thereby putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians.

“It is no longer news that all assignments assigned to the Vice-President by the President are being discharged effectively”, it added.

“This is evident in the achievements of the committee he chaired, which gave birth to SURE-P, that is today greatly empowering our teeming youths, providing remarkable infrastructure and drastically reducing unemployment in our nation,” the group said.