Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina and Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi are likely to be absent at the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) rally scheduled to hold in Kano, tomorrow, our correspondents have learnt.

TAN, a group which says it is selling the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan to Nigerians, has since August 16, been holding rallies across the country and has held same in five of the six geo-political zones in the country with that of the North West zone scheduled for Kano tomorrow, before the grand finale slated for the 30th of September in Abuja.

As the group is set to go to Kano, indications have emerged that the Jigawa State governor his Katsina and Kebbi State counterpart may not attend the event.

A source in Jigawa Government House informed Daily Trust that Lamido will not be at the rally as he said the governor has made it clear that he is not in support of what the TAN is doing and that he cannot encourage them by gracing their rallies with his presence.

“The Governor was a member of the G-9 that formed the PDP and he believes it will be ridiculous for somebody who knows nothing about how the party was formed and how President Jonathan emerged as its candidate to come to him and say he is selling Jonathan to him.

“The Governor believes that if anybody should sell Jonathan then it should either be the party or staunch PDP members like him not an outside body of opportunists that want to harvest where they did not sow,” the source said.

Efforts to get the state commissioner of information, Babandi Ibrahim Gumel to confirm the position of the governor was not successful as he was not picking his calls and did not respond to an SMS sent to him by our correspondent.

Governor Shema on the other hand is said to have traveled out of the country but is expected back today hence the uncertainty over his attendance.

Daily Trust has observed that of recent, Shema has been avoiding occasions that Vice President Namadi Sambo is attending as he was absent at the North West PDP caucus meeting and the NEC meetings of the party which endorsed the President.

There have been reports that the governor and the Vice President are engaged in a ‘cold war’ recent over Shema’s reported interest in the vice presidential slot of the PDP.

Shema was Jonathan’s North West coordinator in the 2011 general elections.

The governor has been away for the past one week while his spokesman, Lawal Matazu is in Saudi Arabia and could not be reached for comments.

Chief of Staff to the governor, Salisu Majigiri, was also not available for comments and did not respond to a text message sent to him in that regard.

Deputy Governor of the state, Garba Faskari a source revealed, is also uncertain about whether he will be attending on behalf of his boss as he is yet to receive communication to that effect.

The deputy governor that has been attending pro-Jonathan meetings on behalf of his boss.

When contacted PDP publicity secretary in the state, Salisu Sukuntuni said the party is yet to reach a decision on attending the rally as it is yet to meet and take final decision on that.

Checks by our correspondent in Katsina revealed that owing to the ‘cold war’ between Shema and Vice President Namadi Sambo who is from the zone, the governor is most likely to stay away.

Governor of Kaduna State, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has however given an indication that he will attend.

Director General, media and publicity to Governor Yero, Ahmed Maiyaki, confirmed the governor’s intention to attend the rally.

Yero is strong supporter of the vice president and has served as commissioner during the former’s administration as governor of Kaduna State.

Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State, his deputy Ibrahim K. Aliyu Speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Aminu Habib Jega and his deputy Mohammed Bena as well as top government officials have left for Saudi Arabia ahead of TANs visit to the North-West.

The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Alh Abubakar Dakingari who confirmed the trip to our reporter however said he is not aware of the rally by TAN.

“All I know is that, the governor and the speaker and some top government officials have left for pilgrimage this evening, from the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport at Ambursa, Birnin Kebbi,” he said when contacted on phone.

Airport sources also confirmed to our reporter that their plane took off at about 5:17 PM yesterday.

The zone has four PDP governors as the other states in the region which include Kano, Zamfara and Sokoto are governed by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/politics/35399-3-pdp-governors-may-be-absent-at-tan-north-west-rally