Vice President Namadi Sambo lied when he claimed that he would not influence the choice of a new deputy governor for Kaduna State, News Express can reveal this morning.

Speaking last week Tuesday, Dec. 18, Sambo’s spokesman Umar Sani had told the Abuja-based Daily Trust that the Vice President had given a freehand to Kaduna’s new governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, to choose his deputy.

“You know, the Vice President understands the complexities of Kaduna and he has said that he will not interfere,” Sani had said.

News Express can, however, report that Sambo, a former governor of Kaduna State and political godfather of Governor Yero, had already settled for the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga, as at the time Sani spoke with Daily Trust.

One of Bajoga’s kinsmen who is privy to how he emerged as the new deputy governor told News Express: “The day after the copter crash of Saturday (Dec. 15) that killed our brother, Governor Patrick Yakowa, a meeting of stakeholders or opinion leaders of Southern Kaduna was convened to discuss the way forward. The meeting was concerned about how we could retain the post of state PDP Chairman in addition to providing the new deputy governor. The thinking was that Bajoga should remain as state PDP Chairman but he informed the meeting that he had a text message from the office of the Vice President telling him to prepare to become the new deputy governor. Everything possible was done to convince Bajoga that his becoming deputy governor is not in the interest of our people but he said he didn’t care and that he had made up his mind to accept the position.”

It would be recalled that News Express had on Monday broken the story of the forwarding of Bajoga’s name to the House of Assembly for screening. Yero, who is from the northern part of the state, had been sworn-in as governor following the death of Yakowa in the helicopter crash in President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state, Bayelsa, which killed all six persons on board, including former National Security Adviser, retired Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi.

•Photo: VP Sambo.