PDP Declares Vice President Sambo Incompetent

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo was yesterday put under intense political pressure as numerous pioneer members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his home state of Kaduna declared for the splinter group led by Kawu Baraje. They also declared Mr. Sambo incompetent, adding that he lacked the wherewithal to lead the state. "Today's development has dampened Alhaji Sambo's aspiration to be the main political force in Kaduna and to control the complex politics of his home state," said an Abuja-based political source. The formation of a Kaduna State chapter of the new PDP was announced by the faction's chairman, Audi Yaro Makama, who had also chaired the state party from 2001 to 2007, and the secretary, Gideon Morik, who had served in the Kaduna State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007 and later as a local government chairman. Their declaration came in a statement. Declaring Sambo incompetent, the new PDP said, "Fundamentally, this decision has been taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Architect Namadi Sambo as Vice President. It is instructive that since his elevation, the fortunes and prestige of the party in the state has been declining rather than improving, because he has been incapable of rallying the people under its umbrella. This expectation has been a forlorn hope because the Vice President has surrounded himself with political paperweights. These hangers-on drive Sambo's vehicle of political exclusionism by hunting for enemies even where they don't exist. All efforts by concerned party members and elders to make him see reason, as well as draw the attention of the sacked party leadership, were in vain. We are therefore, once again, affirming our loyalty to the new leadership of PDP under Alhaji Kawu Baraje."