In August 2011, Governor Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers state, acting in his
capacity as head of the powerful
Nigeria Governors’ Forum, authorized
a rare initiative.
Having the backing of majority of his
35 colleagues, Mr. Amaechi approved
an immediate evaluation and
retraining of hundreds of governors’
convoy drivers, a team known more
for being notorious for unruly,
lawless, and often times deadly road
use.
Between 2008 and date, 12 state
governors’ convoys have been
involved in road accidents, many of
them fatal, with 2012 alone recording
three as of June. In nearly all of the
cases, witnesses held the convoys to
blame, accusing them of recklessness
and speed.
The convoy drivers are often accused
of acting with impunity and disregard
for public order, adding to an existing
public frustration and resentment for
state executives.
So, at the behest of the Federal Road
Safety Corp (FRSC), in December 2011,
more than 604 drivers in the
governors’ offices received physical
and medical examination, and took
specialized courses in driving in a
convoy.
Poor eyesights, high blood pressure
The result of the examination is
shocking, underlining the real reason
for the reckless driving (by governors’
drivers) that has killed more than a
dozen people in four years.
The results of the tests tell the story of
the men behind the wheels of the
racy utility vehicles blamed for the
deaths of many and epitomizing the
violation of speed limits and the
intimidation of other motorists.
Obtained exclusively by PREMIUM
TIMES, the report shows that dozens
of those who drive our state
governors and cars in their convoys
have abnormal eyesights and
dangerously surging blood pressure.
It also emerged that nearly 300 drivers
landed their jobs either without a
driver’s license or have expired ones.
The driver license of at least one driver
had not been renewed since 1998.
The FRSC has not said there will be
sanctions for such grave and clear
violations.
In the post-training report, a copy of
which was sent to Mr. Amaechi, the
commission’s chairman, Osita
Chidoka, made no suggestions for
penalties as stipulated in its laws.
Mr. Chidoka instead tended to be
conciliatory in his letter to the Rivers
state governor, dated May 12, merely
advising that violators be withdrawn
from driving, or made to be properly
licensed.
But spokesperson for the
commission, Julius Agu, told PREMIUM
TIMES the commission remained
committed to enforcing its laws,
suggesting that where violations were
confirmed, there would be penalties.”
“It’s the same law for everybody; it
does not matter whether it is a
governor’s convoy. For driving without
a driver’s license, there will be
sanctions,” Mr. Agu said.
In all, 241 drivers who participated in
the training had invalid license with
expiry dates spreading from 1998 to
2011. Worse, 29 drove the governors
for years without federal license.
Drivers with abnormal eyesight were
15, while those with abnormal blood
pressure totaled 31, the report says.
Expired licenses
The worst case of expired license use
were recorded in Yobe state. A driver
from that state had not renewed his
license since 1998. Other states,
including Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Taraba,
Benue and Adamawa, have drivers
whose licenses expired between 2001
and 2009.
Osun and Yobe states had the highest
number of drivers with eye defect,
which stood at four, while 13 drivers,
the highest figure for those with
abnormal blood pressure, came from
Bayelsa state, the report indicates.
The examination restricted its
coverage to mainly physical and
medical indices although some of the
drivers admit facing immense
pressure, and relishing in the feeling
of a quasi authority.
“Some of the convoy drivers are
reckless and take advantage of being
in the convoy to be irresponsible and
misbehave in movements,”
Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta state
governor said ahead of the
assessment last year. “It is even worse
sometimes when the governors are
not in the convoy,” he said.
A festival of accidents
In the past three years, accidents
involving the governors’ convoys have
killed at least 17 people, amongst the
dead, the erstwhile Gombe state
deputy governor in 2011, and more
recently, three journalists, reports on
road crashes show.
Mr. Uduaghan’s convoy crashed in
December 2011, and its victims
fortunately had only injuries.
Some of the worst cases of governors’
convoy accidents involved the Ondo
state governor in October 2009, in
which six people died.
In Katsina in March 2011, five persons
died in an accident involving the state
governor, Ibrahim Shema.
August 2011, then deputy governor of
Gombe state, David Albashi, died of
injuries he received in a car crash on
August 28.
In early 2012, three journalists were
killed in an accident involving the
convoy of the Edo state governor,
Adams Oshiomole, sparking
allegations the crash was planned by
opposition People’s Democratic Party
(PDP). The party has denied the
allegation.
The latest accident involving a
governor’s convoy occurred in
Zamfara state on June 25, 2012, killing
a police officer attached to the
governor. The Superintendent of
Police, Ado Yahaya, who was the head
of the governor’s Special Protection
Unit, died instantly in the accident.
There were also relatively mild crashes
that registered no fatality involving
Governors Peter Obi of Anambra state
-September 2008; Liyel Imoke of Cross
River state – in March, 2010; Niger
state’s Babangida Aliyu (March 2011)
and Theodore Orji of Abia, April 2012.
The convoy drivers training was
conducted at 12 locations, and 22
states took part, with the governors of
Rivers, Cross Rivers, Edo, Niger,
Plateau, Nasarawa, Enugu, Abia,
Ogun, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi
and Akwa Ibom states, failing to send
their drivers for the course.
Police authorities barred their officers
attached to the convoys from taking
part in the exercise over yet unclear
reasons, an FRSC source said the then
police Inspector General, Hafiz Ringim,
contended that the FRSC had no right
to train his officers.


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