*‘Sharp’ Deputies Worship Governors’ Wives, Aides
* Hostile Constitution Seals Deputies’ Fate As Governors Deploy Paranoia As Smart Psychology
One of the lessons Nigeria’s Deputy Governors eventually learn in the rough-and-tumble corridors of the State House is that ambition is the grand enemy of all peace. Of course, this translates differently on the flip sides of the power equation. For instance, while in a Deputy Governor, ambition connotes a vice, in a Governor, it manifests as a virtue. Thus a governor enjoys the privilege of vying for a second term and installing his preferred successor after his tenure. But his deputy wouldn’t dare dream of succeeding him without his permission.
Ask the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shuaibu. The poor dude has been serially battered and bruised by his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki.
After several weeks of undisguised hostility between the duo, the Edo governor has finally kicked his embattled deputy out of his office in the State House.
This comes after Shuaibu tendered unreserved apologies in various fora and before the media cameras. Both Obaseki and Shuaibu have been at loggerheads over the latter’s ambition to contest the 2024 governorship polls in the state.
In an apparent move to wade off any show of public affection, security aides attached to Obaseki reportedly barred Shuaibu from approaching the governor during the state’s 32nd anniversary thanksgiving church service held at the Festival Hall of the Government House.
Again, the following day, on Monday, August 28, at the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum celebration, Shuaibu’s media aides were reportedly denied entry to the event, despite pleas from the deputy governor who later left the event apparently dissatisfied.
However, the ongoing war for dominance between Governor Obaseki and his deputy, Shuaibu has assumed uglier dimensions. As the rift intensifies, the warring parties resort to extreme measures against each other.
While Shuaibu accused the governor of using security operatives to intimidate him, Obaseki accused his deputy of plotting a coup against him.
The governor had openly said the “Emilokan factor” (it-is-my-turn slogan) would not work in Edo State, ruling out the possibility of being succeded by Shuaibu.
Not a few people are stunned by the macabre display of animosity between Governor Obaseki and his one-time best buddy, Deputy Governor Shuaibu. But this is what power and ambition do to a man; it corrupts him absolutely, according to pundits.
In the wake of Obaseki and Shuaibu’s spat, another ugly impasse brews between the returnee governor of Ondo State, His Excellency Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, whose apparent disdain of his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has unsettled the latter, causing him to run from pillar to post. Aiyedatiwa recently got a court injunction preventing the House of Assembly from impeaching him and restraining Governor Akeredolu from nominating a new deputy governor and forwarding the same to the lawmakers for approval pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.
Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the political space has played host to quite a few feuds between governors and their deputies and several states have had their fair share of conflict in the State House.
Since the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (now President Tinubu) versus his deputies, Akerele-Bucknor and then, Olufemi Pedro, which rattled Lagos between 1999 and 2003, more political and highly publicised duels have erupted between state governors and their deputies.
While Bucknor-Akerele allegedly incurred Tinubu’s wrath for her perceived insubordination, Pedro reportedly got on the wrong side of his principal over his choice of his Chief of Staff, Tunde Fashola, as his successor.
The animosity between both men forced the deputy governor to defect to the Labour Party and contest against his boss’ anointed successor, Fashola.
After the election, which he lost, Pedro got an impeachment notice from the House of Assembly. He promptly sent in his resignation letter, but the lawmakers were said to have rejected the letter leading to his eventual impeachment.
And few people will forget in a hurry, how in early 2022, the then governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, now the Minister of State, Defence, allegedly exploited every opportunity to deal with his deputy, Mahdi Ali.
The rift started after Mahdi refused to follow Matatwalle who had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would be recalled that Matawalle and Ali came into office by chance, on the platform of the PDP, after the Supreme Court disqualified candidates (including the governorship candidate, Mukhtar Shehu Idris) of the APC, who had been declared winners in the 2019 elections in the state.
The Supreme Court ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in the buildup to the 2019 general elections in the state. Idris’ loss then became Matawalle’s gain.
This political intrigue ended in February 2022 with Ali being impeached by the State House of Assembly.
Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, also had two deputy governors for his two terms in office and fell out with both of them over political differences. Jude Agbaso was deputy governor of Imo State till March 2013 when he was impeached. Agbaso’s battle with his principal began when he challenged the then-governor for a second tenure, citing a supposed gentleman’s agreement that stipulated that Okorocha would rule Imo State for only four years. He was sent packing and summarily replaced by Prince Eze Madumere.
While Madumere’s relationship with Okorocha was seen to be more cordial, he too fell out with his principal for protesting against his choice of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor. Madumere vied for the same post, creating a breakaway faction full of his loyalists in the All Progressives Congress.
And there was the protracted tiff between the former Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje and his deputy, Hafiz Abubakar. Abubakar resigned as Ganduje’s deputy on August 4, 2018, citing “immeasurable and unjustifiable humiliation” for over two and a half years on issues of governance and the desire to keep the government on track. Ganduje’s feud with Abubakar allegedly began when the latter failed to disassociate himself from the governor’s predecessor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
Former Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose was also alleged to have instigated the removal of his deputy, Abiodun Aluko in 2005. The state House of Assembly impeached Aluko after finding him guilty of 16 offences. The lawmakers claimed all the offences were grounds for impeachment.
Pundits argued that most of the rifts between state governors and their deputies are caused by a forced marriage legalised by political godfathers who come together to form a merger to win an election. The godfathers nominate their preferred candidates for the positions of governor and deputy governor. The nominated candidates are forced to work with each other irrespective of their differences. In most cases, the governorship candidate would rather pick his own running mate or deputy but he is forced to abide by the choice made on his behalf by the powers that be.
After the election is won, the governor begins to see his deputy as a kind of a stooge or an informant to those political godfathers who nominated him. This creates a lack of trust and makes it difficult for them to work together.
The cases of Matawalle and Mahdi of Zamfara and former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and his deputy, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, are clear examples.
In most cases, the deputy governor is treated like a spare tyre, a disposable element in the power equation at the State House. The situation is compounded by the Nigerian constitution’s vesting of too many powers in the hands of the governor while rendering the deputy almost redundant and at his mercy.
Oftentimes, the deputy governor can only perform functions assigned to him by the governor. The governor controls almost all the institutions in the state, according to pundits.
Further findings revealed that the governor’s cabinet is always instigating him against his deputy – usually because they consider the latter a threat to their own relationship with the governor. Consequently, the smart deputy governor won’t object to anything proposed by the governor’s team proposes. He makes it a point of duty to always curry the favour of the governor’s kitchen cabinet comprising his closest aides and commissioners – and sometimes, even the governor’s wife.
