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The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that established the office of state governor, also created the office of deputy governor. There is every reason to believe that the Constitution and those who framed it, were not in error, in creating the complimentary offices.
Indeed, the Constitution was very clear and deliberate in its provision in section 187 (1) that “ In any election to which the foregoing provisions of this part relate, a candidate for the office of Governor of a State shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated for such office unless he nominates another candidate as his associate for his running for the office of Governor, who is to occupy the office of Deputy Governor and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Deputy Governor if the candidate who nominated him is duly elected as Governor in accordance with the said provisions”
In other words, the office of Governor and that of Deputy Governor are inextricably bound, such that one cannot be, if the other is not. Such a romantic affinity. By law. Reality is however, often more troublesome. The fortune of the two articulated offices that the Constitution created and referred to as “associates”, could not, in truth, be more starkly different.
What the framers of the law intended, is, of course, one thing. The reality, however, especially in the Nigerian political environment, is that the coupling of the two offices has engendered, more or less, an intimacy of Jonah and the fish. One must necessarily be in the belly of the other for peace to reign. The leg room for one of the “associates” is indeed, circumscribed to the point of suffocation. Indeed, Jonah may possibly have experienced more peace of mind and better supplies while on his trip, than many deputy governors.
The lot of deputy governors have remained precarious from the very onset of the political system that accorded almost absolute power to the head of the executive branch. Sadly, many state governors, especially in recent times, have an impression of themselves that are more imperial than democratic. For those imperial governors, even if a deputy governor genuflects from morning till night before his principal, the chances of the deputy still falling short of the test of loyalty by the governor, remains quite high. Such a crushing portfolio for an “associate” in governance. This, in many cases, is the travail of the deputy governor, under Nigeria’s presidential system of democratic governance.
But then, is the governor always to blame for the chequered fortune of the deputy governor? Certainly not always. There are a number of cases of deputy governors who lack the requisite humility and subtlety to navigate and thrive in their station. Some of them succumb to the prodding of inordinate ambition and impatience. This seems to be the case in some of the present trauma of some deputy governors.
In the last fortnight or thereabout, while Nigerians were occupied, grappling with the stupefying panel beating at the judicial end of disputes over the 2023 presidential election and others, not a few deputy governors have been passing through the crucibles of their offices. The running cases of some of the deputy governors would, ordinarily, have elicited fresh attention to their place in the scheme of governance-arrangement, as provided by the Constitution. Unfortunately, in the prevailing unsettling environment, occasioned by electoral sharp practices and audacious elevation of political impunity in the land, the lot of deputy governors has only managed to gain peripheral attention.
It is not surprising therefore, that recent tales of woes and travails of deputy governors, captured by the cases in Edo and Ondo States, as well as other less volatile cases, have not gained much traction in public discourse. Yet, a vital office in the scheme of the administration of States, created by the Constitution on a purpose, is facing a prospect of going into irrelevance, if not extinction, either stealthily or brazenly.
It is not often easy to pass judgment and determine who exactly is the guilty side in the disputes between the governor and the deputy governor. More often than not, the root of the problem has been located in the thriving business of sycophancy within the political system, exacerbated by an undeveloped political structure, in which what is due to every office and official flows from ‘the oga at the top”. If he freezes you out, your pocket is frozen as well. This being the case, why will any deputy governor misread the environment? Ambition. And corrosive impact of sycophants around the junior “associate”, too.
The present travails of the deputy governors of Edo State, Phillip Shuaibu and the deputy governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa are, at once sad and instructive. In 2020, both deputy governors were not only intimate associates of their principals, they were reliable allies, as both governors sought re-election for second term.
In Ondo State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had parted ways with his former deputy governor, who had indeed, moved to challenge him from within the party and eventually ran against him from outside. At an Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] forum in Akure before the election, Akeredolu refused to even shake the hands of his former deputy, Agboola Ajayi. It was that bad. Aiyedatiwa was the new man, the right associate, standing through the electoral battle with the governor. And they won. Three years down the line, Lucky Aiyedatiwa is exactly in the position where his predecessor, Ajayi was in 2020, estranged from the governor.
In Edo State, Phillip Shuaibu was a reliable ally of Governor Godwin Obaseki, as they both fought the political battle of their lives to dislodge the yoke of Adams Oshiomhole, who was their principal a while ago. Shuaibu danced and high-fived Obaseki, all through 2020, as they fought and won their election. it was apparent he was a confidant of his principal. Four years down the line, the Governor can barely tolerate his deputy. Is the matter with the Constitution or with individuals?
Governor Obaseki seems really bitter and betrayed by the actions of his deputy. The governor is miffed at the act of the deputy governor filing a case in the court against him, to stop him and the State Assembly from impeaching him, when, according to the governor, there never was such plan and indeed, no basis for that. Worse still, he complained publicly, the deputy governor never complained to him that anybody was plotting to impeach him. The Governor has subsequently refused to be pacified. Not surprisingly, Shuaibu has been banished to a psychological and physical Siberia of sorts, uprooted from his once cosy office not far from the governor’s. He was crying out few days ago that he has been barred from gaining access to his office.
Shuaibu’s reassurance that he remains loyal to Obaseki, does not frankly, address the matter. He may have withdrawn the case to forestall the impeachment he alleged, but what really did he think he was doing?
Meanwhile, Governor Akeredolu, just back from a three-month sick leave, returned with a determination to solve the nagging problem of his deputy, Aiyedatiwa. He first disbanded the media team of the deputy governor, something of cutting off his wings. Other dismantling actions are being expected. From all indications, while Akeredolu was away, fighting for his life in Germany, the deputy governor was busy fighting for ground to succeed his principal in the governorship election due in few months.
Clearly then, the problem is not with the Constitution and the provision of the twin offices of governor and deputy governor. The problems in the relationship between governors and deputy governors, obviously has to do, in many cases with managing relationship and managing ambition.
Of course, there were brazenly atrocious cases against a deputy governor, such as in Kogi State, where Governor Yahaya Bello, ignored all court rulings and sacked Simon Achuba as deputy governor. President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney general of the Federal looked away from the infraction, adding to the lawlessness in the land under the Buhari dispensation.
In the present cases in Ondo and Edo States, the deputy governors do not appear to have done the office of deputy governor much good before the public. They need to advance better reasons for the public to continue to believe that governors are the wilful aggressors in the common conflict with deputy governors.
