Renewing An Old Beef
Jigawa State governor, it is possible that he (Lamido) spoke out of disappointment at PDP’S unexpected loss to the opposition APC in Bayelsa State, especially given that he is among the few foundation members still in the party. May be, his love for the party prompted him.
Also, Lamido might have reflected on the fact that he remained committed to PDP from its inception against all odds. Above all, he must have recalled how he accompanied his colleagues in nationwide diplomatic visits to eminent stakeholders in effort to rescue the party.
Those who have been following the politics of PDP from inception said Lamido was still at pains over how outsiders who came into the party and enjoyed political prominence, had to disappoint the party in a cruel manner.
A top PDP chieftain from Kano State confided in The Guardian that Lamido was not happy that former President Jonathan was hobnobbing with the leaders of APC at the same time that the party was involved in a crucial election in his home state.
“So, he (Lamido) was bitter that Jonathan has behaved the same way as Obasanjo by turning his back on the party that gave him the highest political office in the country. And to tell you the truth, without PDP, there is no Jonathan,” he stated.
But going beyond the recent developments, it could be recalled that Lamido suffered big disappointments in his political progression at the hands of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The first time was in May 2010; shortly after the Bayelsa-born former vice president mounted the saddle as Nigeria’s substantive president.
Former President Umaru Yar’adua had died midway into the first term, which he won on a joint ticket with Jonathan. With the eventual ascension of the former Vice President to the office of President, the search for a candidate to deputise him was on, and former President Obasanjo was said to have been positioning Sule Lamido, who by then was serving his first term as governor of Jigawa State.
At the end of the day, instead of Lamido or Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the former Kaduna State governor, the then President Jonathan settled for Architect Namadi Sambo, who was at that time the incumbent chief executive of Kaduna State.
Then again, towards the tail end of his second term in office in 2015, following a purported agreement by President Jonathan to occupy the office of President for just one term to make up the joint ticket with Yar’adua, Lamido projected himself to pick the PDP ticket for the 2015 General Elections.
While the agitation for presidential power to return to the north gained momentum, an underground campaign for Lamido for President 2015 took a life of its own, such that on a visit to Nasarawa State, the then President was amazed to see campaign posters bearing the pictures of Lamido and the then Rivers State governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi. Worried by the disturbing developments, some members of President Jonathan’s cabinet, including the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Bello Adoke, convinced the President to take action to quell the Lamido for President campaign.
Coincidentally, in the days leading to the announcement of timelines for the 2015 General elections, Lamido’s son, who was taking his wife to Egypt to attend to her health challenges was apprehended at the Airport with $40, 000 and taken into custody for currency trafficking.
From that entanglement, the former Jigawa governor was later charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged abuse of contract awards to companies in which his family had interest.
Although Lamido explained that he did not join his former colleagues in defecting to APC at the build up to the 2015 poll, a lot of people believed that he was constrained by the EFCC case.
To some extent, it could be the entanglements between Lamido and EFCC that Jonathan’s media aide was alluding to when he stated: “One thing is clear: In his anger and apparent bile-filled disposition, Lamido, an otherwise astute and erudite politician, obviously dropped the ball by electing not to speak responsibly like a statesman. Lamido, we believe, is too smart not to realise when the pot conveniently calls the kettle black, it is a grand design to confuse, deceive and cover up the truth.”
Following PDP’S loss of the 2015 general election, most stakeholders trace the downward slide of the party to former President Jonathan’s inability to balance his political interest against the political future of the party and its strategic relevance to Nigeria’s democracy.
And so, in their recent spat there are traces of old animosities creeping back, especially the feeling that narrow interests were wrecking the PDP platform, thereby raising the question: Between Dr. Jonathan, a former President and Alhaji Lamido, a foundation member and former governor, how long will their renewed feud last?