Deputy governors’ long battle for political survival

Deputy governors in Nigeria have for long been battling to remain relevant irrespective of the political decisions of their principals. As far back as May 1981, in one of the first major tests of a deputy governor’s independence and right to choice, then deputy governor of Kano State, Alhaji Bibi Farouk went under fire for […]

Deputy governors in Nigeria have for long been battling to remain relevant irrespective of the political decisions of their principals.

As far back as May 1981, in one of the first major tests of a deputy governor’s independence and right to choice, then deputy governor of Kano State, Alhaji Bibi Farouk went under fire for his insistence on charting a different course from that of his boss, the fiery Abubakar Rimi.

In what may have set the precedence for subsequent acts of recalcitrance, Bibi Farouk was impeached.

Farouk’s case which happened 44 years ago, bears striking similarity with what is going on in Kano at the moment where an impeachment notice has been served on the deputy governor by the state’s House of Assembly.

In the two cases, the actions of the state legislatures were informed largely due to political difference between the governors and their deputies..

In the case of Farouk, it was because he refused to side with Rimi when a rift occurred within their party, the  Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). Farouk chose to side with the Aminu Kano faction known as ‘Tabo’ while Rimi remained a major force in the other faction known as ‘Santsi.’

Then as now, the  state House of Assembly was dominated by the Governor’s loyalists which effected Bibi Farouk’s impeachment and Audu Dawakin Tofa replaced him as the deputy governor.

In the current circumstance, Gov Abba Kabir Yusuf better known for his campaign name of ‘Abba Gida Gida’, was elected on a joint ticket with the deputy on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in 2023.

But early this year,  Gov Yusuf defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaving his deputy Aminu Abdulsalam and other supporters of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso behind.

Though the Kano Assembly has given other reasons for serving the deputy with the impeachment notice, it is limpidly clear that the move was triggered bu his refusal to join Governor Abba Yusuf and the other lawmakers in defecting to the All Progressives Congress in January.

 

Impeachment of deputies

With what is going on Kano, serving an impeachment notice on deputy governors who refused to defect with their governors to other parties would be the umpteenth time such a big stick would be wielded in the current democratic dispensation.

On August 13, 2009, then deputy governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Muhammad Garba Gadi was impeached as the deputy governor of Bauchi State  by the State House of Assembly.

Though he was accused of gross misconduct, it was widely known that he was removed because the then governor, Isa Yuguda had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) on which they were elected on while the deputy refused to move with him.

Thirteen years later, the same fate that befell Gadi visited Zamfara State deputy governor, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau,who was impeached on February 23, 2022, by the State House of Assembly.

Similarly,  though he was accused of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and financial misappropriation, the action was known to been instigated by his refusal to join the APC after the governor, Bello Matawalle defected from the PDP.

Less then three years later, the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo almost found himself in a similar situation when he dragged his feet about moving to the ruling party with his boss, Douye Diri.

Sensing it would cost him his seat, the deputy governor, alleging a plot to remove him due to political differences following Governor Diri’s reported move to the APC, preempted whatever move the House of Assembly may take and quickly went to the court to secure a restraining order on the House from acting in that manner.

He however he passed away before the issue could be thoroughly trashed out.

 

Other rifts between governors and their deputies

The frequency and fervency with which rifts between governors and their deputies occur has made many to ask what could be responsible for such given that their pairing on a particular platform is supposed top be informed by certain shared similarities.

In the old Benue State, Governor Aper Aku had a running battle with his deputy Isa Odoma even before their inauguration as Odoma was not the choice of Aku for the position. He was only presented to Aku by the Igala to represent them in that capacity since the slot was given to them.

But in a manner that reflects the sincerity of that era, Odoma voluntarily offered not to contest on a joint ticket with Aku in 1983 when they would have been due to contest for a second term  and was replaced by Sule Iyaji as  the running mate  for the 1983 Benue State gubernatorial election. 

But the by the turn of the century the trust between governors and their deputy’s has so broken that no governor is willing to take a bet about what his deputy could do to him if he pendulum swings against him.

Early enough in the current democratic dispensation, governor and their deputies left no one in doubt that they were two captains in a boat.

Kofo Bucknor-Akerele who was the deputy to Bola Ahmed Tinubu  as governor of Lagos State left no one in doubt that their pairing was a mismatch and after over three years of uneasy relationship she preempted an impeachment move against her and  resigned her position.

Lagos served as an example of how opposed deputies could be to their governors when  in the eight years of Tinubu as governor, he worked with three governors; Bucknor Akerele; Femi Pedro and Abiodun Ogunleye.

In Abia State, Enyinaya Abaribe also had a  running battle with his boss, Orji Uzor Kalu.Abaribe survived three impeachment attempts until he threw in the towel  to avoid the harassment of another impeachment attempt.

In plateau State, Micheal Bot-mang who had been loyal to his boss Joshua Dariye was compelled to shift loyalty to the camp of then deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu when Dariye was impeached. Same with Adebayo Alao Akala when his boss, Rasheed Ladoja was impeached.

Later another deputy governor of Plateau State, Paulin Tallen also fell pout with her boss, Jonah Jang, to the extent that she even contested the 2011 elections against her boss, on a different platform while holding the office of the deputy governor.

The animosity between governors and their deputies heighten to the point that most governors are not   willing to give their deputies the benefit of doubt when it comes to loyalty.

Yesterday’s episode in Kano is just another in a series of many where governors feel their deputies must be one hundred percent at their beck and call.

Incidentally in most the instances where he deputies ran to the courts to challenge such removals, the court restored their seats to them as it happened in the cases of Gusau and Gadi.

In a related development, when then vice president, Atiku Abubakar was challenged on the propriety of his continuous stay on the seat of the VP, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour.

In that instance however, it was the viced president that defected to another party,the Action Congress (AC). But even when he did so, the court ruled that that was not a sufficient ground for him to be removed from office.

How the current Kano episode plays out remains to be seen.