After months of speculations about his political future, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State today revealed his plan to run for reelection, according to a close associate of Vice President Namadi Sambo who spoke to SaharaReporters in Abuja.
He explained that the governor, with the blessing of the vice president, this morning formally submitted a letter of intent to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the party’s secretariat in Kaduna, the state capital.
The source, who is a major figure in Northern Nigerian politics, disclosed that the vice president had never given the governor instructions not to run nor demanded that Mr. Yero yield to a candidate from the Southern Kaduna area of the state. Numerous politicians from the southern part of the state, which has a significant Christian politician, have been calling for the governorship to return to their zone following the 2012 death of former Governor Patrick Yakowa in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State.
“Governor Yero is set to battle Malam Nasir El-Rufai,” said our source. Mr. El-Rufai is a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a top contender for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State.
Said our source, “Forget about what noise makers are saying. I am in Abuja and can confirm to you that Yero has formally submitted a letter of intent today in Kaduna—with the full consent of our leader, Vice President Namadi Sambo and other critical stakeholders.” He added, “It is not true that [Vice President] Sambo has stopped Yero from running. It is a false and mischievous speculation. Speculations that Sambo has issued a condition that a Southern Kaduna candidate must emerge are false. In fact, Yero’s main endorsement and support base is from Southern Kaduna.”
The source added that major politicians from the southern Kaduna zone, including a senator, members of House of Representatives, the Kaduna State House of Assembly, local government chairmen and councilors, a minister, commissioners, advisers, appointees and stakeholders had been first to bless the governor’s reelection bid.
He projected that Mr. Yero would defeat Mr. El-Rufai in the 2015 governorship election. “Yero will beat [El-Rufai] flat down,” he said, adding, “Just wait and see.”