By Agency Reporter
Kaduna State Governor Namadi Sambo on Sunday declared that his deputy, Patrick Yakowa, is his automatic successor as governor of the state.
According to Sambo, Yakowa, whom he decribed as “loyal and committed” becomes the governor of Kaduna the moment his own nomination as the Vice President gets the nod of the National Assembly.
“Patrick Yakowa is very loyal and dedicated. He is a competent Deputy Governor, who will continue from where the Governor stopped,” Sambo, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Umar Sanni, told journalists in Kaduna.
Also, the governor described his nomination by President Goodluck Jonathan to fill the vacant VP position as an ‘act of God’.
According to him, he was indeed working for the emergence of another person for the post, saying he was humbled by his choice.
He spoke against the backdrop of reported controversy in Kaduna over the headship of the state by Yakowa, a Christian. Sambo is a Moslem.
Though the police had dispel speculations of tension in the state, but media reports indicated that some Islamic faithful had been circulating text messages calling Muslims to resist Yakowa from becoming the governor.
Under the Nigerian 1999 constitution, section 191 (1) provides that “The Deputy Governor of a State shall hold the office of Governor of the State if the office of the Governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal from office for any other reason in accordance with section 188 or 189 of the constitution.”
Meanwhile, a group, Women for Peace in Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to ensure the smooth transition of power to the vice president-designate, Sambo and his deputy, Yakowa who would now automatically assume the governorship of the state.
WOPIN National President, Dr. Maryam Abdullahi said at a news conference in Kaduna on Sunday that “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has vested the president with the discretion to nominate anyone as his vice president. Similarly, the constitution provides for the deputy governor to automatically become the substantive governor anytime the vacancy exists.
“WOPIN regards the nomination of Governor Sambo as the vice president as a welcome development for the people of Kaduna State in particular and Nigerians in general. We also welcome the constitutional provision that provides for a smooth transition of the deputy governor to the position f substantive governor of Kaduna State.
Source: Punch
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