Namadi Sambo: ‘I am not afraid to visit Kaduna’
Umar Sani, spokesperson for the vice president has said that the very busy schedule of his boss, Namadi Sambo, since the April elections is what has kept him away from his home state, Kaduna, and not from being scared of an attack.A rumour making the rounds has it that an alleged threat by members of the Boko Haram religious sect to bomb Kaduna State following the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at both the presidential and governorship elections in the state was the reason Mr Sambo has refused to visit the state since.
Mr Sambo was the governor of Kaduna State between 2007 and 2010 before he was appointed Vice President by President Goodluck Jonathan.
“As you know, the vice president has been the one on the ground representing the president at several occasions. First the president had a seven-day retreat at Obudu in Cross River State. Again the president was in the US for a meeting and also the vice president attended a meeting in Ethiopia. All these engagements have kept the VP very busy.
Mr Sani queried why the vice president should be afraid of an alleged threat by any group, given the heavy security around him, stating that no amount of threat would deter Mr Sambo from visiting his home state.
“As the number two citizen of this country, the heavy security attached to the vice president is very sophisticated for him to be scared of any attack by some group of people. Therefore, it is a pure lie that he distanced himself from Kaduna State because of fear of attack.”
Mr Sani explained that there was no need for the vice president to visit Kaduna when he had no business to attend to there, adding that what was important to him now was how he and President Jonathan would transform the country as they promised during their campaign.
“If the VP starts frequenting Kaduna today, the same people will come to say he is trying to interfere in the governance of Kaduna State. But if there is anything that would bring him to Kaduna, definitely he must come; after all, Kaduna is his state,” Mr Sani said.
However, investigation revealed a beef up in security at the residence of the vice president located in the Unguwar Rimi GRA section of the metropolis. Apart from the regular police personnel attached to the house, it was discovered that more security agents from Abuja have been drafted to his residence to complement the existing deployment.
This move, according to findings, became necessary after irate thugs allegedly set fire to the Zaria residence of the vice president in the wake of the post-election violence in the state. Another reason is the spate of bomb attacks in parts of the state.
At the moment, movement around the street where the vice president’s house is located is highly restricted, especially after dusk.
