2015: Northern youths condemn planned replacement of Sambo

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North
ABUJA—Northern youths reacted angrily to the rumoured plan by the
Presidency to replace the Vice President, Namadi Sambo with the former
Zamfara State Governor, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, as a means of
winning the support of more Muslims ahead the 2015 election.
President Jonathan, facing some resistance from the North, was said to
have met with the former Zamfara governor on how he could help
mobilise block support from the region for his re-election.
The President, who met with some Muslim scholars and leaders on his
anticipated second term bid, was said to have been impressed by the
senator's role in facilitating the meeting.It was gathered that the
senator promised to mobilise support for him.
However, the President of the Arewa Youth Forum, Gambo Gujungu, told
Vanguard last night that the North would never support Jonathan in
2015 whether he used Sambo or Yerima as running mate.
Gujungu pointed out that Jonathan's plan to jettison Sambo for Yerima
would only aggravate his political problems rather than give him any
edge in the North.
"The main reason we cannot support him is that he wants to further
divide the North and create more problems so as to exacerbate our
poverty, backwardness and disunity," the AYF leader said.
"But I can assure you that whatever those who are advising the
President are plotting against the North will onlybackfire on them
because as far as we know, he has not done anything in the North
despite the fact that Sambo has been serving him loyally and
faithfully.
The attempt to draft Yerima into the presidential team is coming in
the wake of opposition to Jonathan's rumoured second term in office,
which the North is stoutly opposed to, hinging its opposition on the
fact that the President had promised to do only a term, which would
end in 2015.