Some 12 ex-governors are senators-elect and could eventually influence the emergence of the leadership of the 9th Senate. Patrick Andrew reports.
Governors after 1999
In most states, governors are the alpha and omega who by fiat determines not just the fate of their states but even the relevance or otherwise of fellow political travelers.
Their influence seem unilateral as they have the proclivity to abruptly terminate the political journey of any they considered to be a stumbling block to their aspiration or better still a likely thorn on their political path.
In almost all cases even the state House of Assemblies are considered an extension of their cabinets and so they expect absolute loyalty which must be in the form of rubber stamping every statutory request without as much as hoot on the veracity of otherwise of the purpose for which such requests are made.
That though was in the era of the sprawling and dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Going by the happenings during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries, such overwhelming power and intimidating influence and authority may have subsided because some incumbent governors fought through the skin of their teeth to secure the ticket for themselves, while most could seal the ticket for their preferred candidates.
However, a trend inherited from the PDP era has refused to subside: graduating to the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the senate. So former governors retiring to the senate has become a trend in the Nigerian political space. Governors after serving out their term, now see the senate as their destination of choice. In the eighth senate for instance (2015-2019), 15 former governors were elected senators.
The former governors elected senators were:
Theodore Orji (Abia)
Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom)
Sam Egwu (Ebonyi State)
Jonah Jang (Plateau State)
Adamu Aliero (Kebbi State)
Isiaka Adeleke (Osun State)
Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto State)
Joshua Dariye (Plateau State)
Kabiru Gaya (Kano State)
Abba Bukar Ibrahim (Yobe State)
Danjuma Goje (Gombe State)
Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State)
Ahmed Sani (Zamfara State)
Bukola Saraki (Kwara State)
George Akume (Benue State)
Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara State)
They backed Saraki’s emergence
These governors rallied round one of their own to upstage the plan of the then emerging ruling party- the All Progressives Congress (APC). Former governor of kwara state Bukola Saraki was thrown up in the coup and he became the president of the 8th senate against the wishes of the leadership of the party. In fact, the APC had wanted another ex-governor George Akume of Benue state to be the elected senate president. Well, the plan was a mirage.
It could not materialised partly because the former governors ganged up against the APC and its position and secondly because the former dominant party-the PDP opted to sabotage the APC in other to produce the Deputy Senate President, which they did.
This connivance was equally the reason the choice of Femi Gbajabiamila as the speaker of the House of Representatives could not sail through. Instead, Yakubu Dogara, one of those that had defected from the PDP to the APC in a political tsunami that swept off the PDP, emerged the speaker.
Oshiomhole’s sad memory of 2015
Albeit, he failed to encapsulate the role played by the governors instead chose to concentrate on the ‘ugly’ part played by the opposition, Oshiomhole spoke on the inevitability of uniformity of purpose against whatever forces that could thrown up in opposition to the stance already taken by the party.
“The first is the challenge of ensuring that this time around we ensure that we have a leadership of the National Assembly that shares the vision of the executive.
“Although we speak to separation of power but there is only one government and unless the various arms pursue the same agenda it is difficult for the executive to realise it purpose because legislative backing is often required for the executive actions.
“So I will expect that you bear in mind that we are one family joined together as shown in our broom, with a share commitment to bail Nigeria out of the condition in which we find it in 2015. There will be contestation, that is why we are in democracy but after the contestation and debate we have to agree, and once you have agree you move forward.
“So, we would not do the kind of thing that happened the last time in which some APC members as members of the leading party became distance spectators in the management of committees, when PDP had majority of the strategic committees in the House that will not happen in the next Assembly.
“We are aware that they believe they can use the divide and rule by sponsoring many people within our ranks to contest for which of the position so that they then become the king maker and in return the person will offer them some chairmanship seats.”
Strong words these! But will they hold water? Will Oshiomhole’s persuasion convinced the former governors to subsume their positions within the prism of the party’s yearnings as respect the leadership of the 9th senate?
That would depend. Is any of their members considered for a key role in the leadership structure of the 9th senate? Hardly! Going by the insistence of the APC leadership that its anointed candidate for the president of the 9th senate remains Senate Ahmed Lawan, the current majority leader, one wonders if the party has not inadvertently pitched itself against a powerful bloc. This bloc has, based on previous experience, neither professed loyalty to party affiliation nor would kowtow to the vituperations of one held by many even within the APC with scanty reputation.
In the senate, their influence was palpable so much so that whatever position they lent voice to enjoyed uninhibited passage. As a bloc they are formidable, forceful, intimidating and usually represent no little threat whatever does not attract their fancy.
9th senate and ex-governors
In the 9th senate, the presence of some ex-governors will be conspicuous in their absence. Prominent among these will be former governor of Akwa Ibom state Godswill Akpabio and George Akume of Benue state all of who could not secure a renewed mandate to return to the senate.
In the same vein, Jonah Jang, Ahmed Sani Yerima, Joshua Dariye, Shaaba Lafiagi was not even considered by his party, Isiaka Adeleke (death) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Bukar Abba Ibrahim, the latter two did not seek re-election and would therefore be missing in action in the senate.
The biggest of the fish to leave the senate alas involuntarily is the current president of the senate, Bukola Saraki. He was swept by the o to ge tsunami in Kwara and would therefore be a spectator in a game he was an active player.
But the ex-governors still the numbers and perhaps the presence and influence to dictate the pace in the senate especially in regard to electing its leadership.
Their members including Adamu Aliero, Sam Egwu, Abdullahi Adamu, Danjuma Goje, Aliyu Wamako, Kabiru Gaya, and Theodore Orji, all retained their seats. They have been joined by Ibikunle Amosun, (Ogun state, who is returning for the third time), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe state) Umar Tanko Al Makura (Nasarawa state), kashim Shetimma (Borno state) and Orji Uzor kalu (Abia state, got it at third asking).
Will ex-governors be cowed?
Unfortunately, Ibrahim Dankwambo will neither be reckoned with nor participate in deciding the leadership of the 9th senate. In this class will be Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, and perhaps governors of Imo and Zamfara states respectively whose certificates of return are yet to be issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Their cases are peculiar and require legal interpretation.
Will ex-governors be cowed?
Not a few are of the opinion that their influence could be on the decline especially considering that the governors lacked any visible and influential arrowhead to drive and enforce their position.
Nonetheless, they are likely to still wield some potent influence and maintain their grip in the 9th senate. With 12 senators in their rank, coupled with the fact they still could call the shot and therefore may influence some things, it would be foolhardy for anyone to take them for granted.
Divided opinion
According to Professor Jonah Onuoha, the Director, Institute of American Studies in the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) at the presence would be a welcome development as they come with vast administrative experiences having administered their respective states with considerable successes.
Onuoha in particular said the presence of more ex-governors who had acquired experience in governance would be an added advantage to the 9th Senate. “These governors have acquired experience and know the needs of the people.
“With their wealth of experience they are in a better position to sponsor bills that will address the needs of the people in their states since they have first hand information about them.
“Also with their connections as former governors they will use it to attract quality democracy dividends to their districts.
“To me, I see the election of more former governors into the red chamber as a welcome development, as well as a boost to the 9th Senate,” he said.
His position was shared by Chief Egwu Chima, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi, described the election of the former governors into the senate as a welcome development.
He thinks the former governors would add value and quality to legislative debates because of their wealth of experience.
Chima, former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi, said ex-governors would bring their wealth of experience to bear in the legislative activities in the senate.
Chima said that former governors who served creditably in their respective states deserved a chance to go and show-case their leadership prowess at the senate.
According to him, former governors have acquired enough experience that could be harnessed to advance the nation’s democracy through viable and qualitative representation.
“As a lawmaker, the ex-governors will be able to direct their focus to the nation with the experience that they have gathered over the years on how to build strong, united and virile democracy.
“I can tell you categorically that it is pertinent that former governors should go to senate after serving their states where their wealth of political, leadership and administrative experience will be utilised.”
Prof Aloysius Okolie, also of the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), however, held a contrary opinion.
He said that majority of these former governors were going to senate just to remain politically relevant and not to give quality representation to their people.
“These former governors are going to senate just to remain politically relevant because some of them did not perform very well in their states, and that will not change in the senate.
“Some of these governors in the 8th Senate did not sponsored any bill or done anything extra-ordinary,” he said.
The former Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNN chapter, alleged that some of these former governors were rushing to the senate to avoid harassment from EFCC.
“Some of these governors are going to senate as retirement home as well as a shelter against the harassment of EFCC.
“Some of these governors were in government for eight years and could have allowed others to represent the district.
“They have piloted affairs of their states, any development they did not bring to their people as governors, I doubt if they can do that as senators,” he said.
In the same vein, Dr Paul Okorie, former Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transportation in Ebonyi, said that the former governors were driven by the desire to maintain their grip on the political space in their various states.
Okorie said that some of the former governors that served in the previous senate did not show enough political fire work and quality representation, stressing that they were in the senate to feather their political nest.
He decried the development and urged ex-governors who were elected as senators to place the interest of the country and their constituencies above personal considerations.
“They should put the interest of the nation first, think more of their constituents and to remember first and foremost that their constituents are the people that elected them into the senate.
“They should bring their experience as former governors to bear in the legislative process and thereby advance our democracy,’’ Okorie said.
Former Deputy National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chief Abia Onyike, governors wield enormous powers under the 1999 Constitution, while former President Olusegun Obasanjo once referred to them as ‘emperors.’
“The new culture of going to the senate is a manifestation of their reluctance to leave office.
“It has nothing to do with qualitative contribution to law making, in advanced democracies, you decide the direction you want to follow, either law making or governance.
“That was why we saw people like Edward Kennedy, who spent over 32 years in the senate and was known as the ‘Lion of the Senate.’ These new generation of governors in Nigeria are fond of endless search for relevance after leaving office.
“They are never satisfied with the opportunities they had. The reason is that the areas they governed were glorified provinces, after the balkanisation of the old regions into miniature states and the challenges of governance have become more intractable.
Will they unite?
Granted, they wielded enormous influence as governors and were they to come together to pursue a common goal it is likely a force of some sort to command the attention of those aspiring. In fact, former governor of Kano state Kabiru Gaya has joined the race for the president of the senate and should the usual camaraderie come to play, then Senator Ahmed Lawan may eventually regret not being an ex-governor.
In fact, should Senator Ali Ndume keeps the tempo and sustain the pressure and defy his party leadership and formally enlist in the race for the plumb job of senate president, he too would be in no better position than Lawan not having being an ex-governor himself.
Even then, Uzor Kalu, the ex-governor of Abia state known more for the role he played in Enyimba FC’s back-to-back conquest of the hitherto invincible CAF Champions League trophy than concrete governance in Abia state has joined the foray by insisting that the position of Deputy Senate President by zoned to South-east. Add that to Gaya’s entrance into the race and one could hardly fail to see the hand writing on the wall: ex-governors won’t be idle in the quest to elect the new leadership of the 9th senate.
