Governance: Former governors continue to maintain dominance

By Felix Nwaneri reports




Felix Nwaneri reports on how some members of the political class, who ushered in the current Fourth Republic in 1999, have continued to maintain relevance since then


Today’s generation of young people is the largest the world has ever known in modern history, as half of global population is under 30. However, despite this youth population, 73 per cent of countries restrict young people from running for offices even though they can vote.

This, notwithstanding, there is growing discontent for old politicians, which seems to be driving the wave of youthful energy across the world, and perhaps, explains why some countries recently elected leaders under the age of 40.
Many have reasoned that this trend seems to have spurred the feeling among several Nigerian youths, who believe that new approaches are needed to solve the country’s numerous problems.

The youth, who insist that less emphasis should be put on age and experience, have continued to cite examples of Sebastian Kurz, who was elected to power in Austria at the age of 31 after serving as the country’s youngest-ever foreign minister and hosted negotiations on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Other examples cited were Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who before Kurz was Europe’s youngest leader, as well as Emanuel Macron, France’s youngest ever president elected at the age of 39.

Besides this, the rise in use of social media, which has changed the dynamics of politics and made it less predictable, has equally contributed to the renewed interest in politics among Nigerian youths.

Though this enthusiasm propelled a number of youths to contest for elective positions in the last general elections, the political space still seems not open for the younger generation as both the legislative and executive arms of government at the federal level are still dominated by the same set of politicians, who ushered in the current Fourth Republic in 1999.

While many have reasoned that there is no disputing the fact that experience cannot be dismissed in any human endeavour, however, the belief in some political quarters, is that most politicians, who have been at the helm of affairs in the last two decades have over stayed their welcome.

Among those who hold this conviction, is a renowned professor of Political Economy and former presidential candidate, Pat Utomi, who recently described politicians, who spend more than 12 years in public offices as social parasites.

Justifying his position, the Second Republic presidential adviser said: “I despise people who live on politics. I think that people who make a career in life based on politics are doing society a disservice.

“I have said that nobody should hold public office for more than 12 consecutive years. You go from a commissioner to the governor, senator; you are a social parasite.

“You should come out of your hard work, make a difference for four to eight years and go back to what you do. If it’s not like that for you, you are a parasite to society. The characters making it difficult to make progress are social parasites, who call themselves politicians.”

But, there is another political school of thought, which believes that though experience counts not only in politics, but governance, the fear of precipitous loss in stature after attainment of great heights in politics and governance, either by ones own doing or as a result of circumstances, explains why members of the political class usually cling to power in one or the other.

This, perhaps, is the reason why the legislature, particularly the Senate and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) have become a nest for former governors.

The trend which started, when the class of 1999-2007 set of governors left office after serving the constitutionally allowed two terms of four years each, is gradually turning to a norm in the polity.

In the present dispensation, for instance, 15 former governors are in the Senate, while President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated nine as ministers.

The 15 ex-governors, who presently represent their respective senatorial districts in the upper legislative chamber, are Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi Adamu, Orji Uzor Kalu, Ibrahim Geidam, Theodore Orji, Abdullahi Adamu, Ibrahim Shekarau, Aliyu Wamakko, Kabiru Gaya, Kashim Shettima, Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha, Sam Egwu, Tanko Al Makura and Gabriel Suswam.

Those who have been shortlisted to make the 43-man federal cabinet are Rotimi Amaechi, Godswill Akpabio, Babatunde Fashola, George Akume, Rauf Aregbesola, Niyi Adebayo, Chris Ngige, Timipre Sylva and Ogbonnaya Onu.
Danjuma Goje

The former governor of Gombe State, who returned to the Senate for the third time, served as governor on the platform of the PDP between 2003 and 2011. He had before then served as Minister of State, Power and Steel from 1999 to 2001 under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
On leaving office in 2011, he headed for the Senate, having won election on the platform of the PDP to represent Gombe Central Senatorial District. He was re-elected in 2015 on the platform of APC.


Ibrahim Gaidam

An accountant turned politician, Gaidam worked in several government ministries in the old Borno State and later Yobe State before he ventured into politics, when he was appointed as commissioner for Youths and Sports in 1995 and later as Commissioner of Commerce and Industries.

After his stint as commissioner, he returned to the civil service and between 1997 and 2007, served as Director in the State Finance Ministry and Permanent Secretary in various other ministries.

He was elected deputy governor of Yobe State on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party – ANPP) in 2007, but became governor on January 27, 2009, following the death of Governor Mamman Bello Ali.

After serving out Ali’s term, Geidam contested and won the 2011 governorship election and was re-elected for a second term in the 2015 elections.

This means that he spent 10 years as governor by May 29, this year, when he bowed out. However, he was not done with public office as he contested and won a senatorial election. He presently represents Yobe East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.


Adamu Aliero

Aliero has been in the political terrain since the beginning of the present Fourth Republic. He governed Kebbi State between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the then All Peoples Party (APP) and later ANPP. He later defected to PDP and represented Kebbi Central in the Senate between June 2007 and December 2008, as he was appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory on December 17 that year by then President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Aliero left office on March 17, 2010, when then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the cabinet. He, however, returned to the Senate in 2015 and was re-elected for the third time in the recent 2019 general elections.


Aliyu Wamakko

A former chairman of Sokoto Local Government Area (1986-1987), Wamakko was elected deputy governor of Sokoto State in 1999 and held the position till 2006, when he resigned to contest the 2007 governorship election, which he won.
He was re-elected for a second term in the 2011 elections and on completion of his tenure in 2015, contested and won senatorial election to represent Sokoto North Senatorial District. He is among former governors presently in the 9th Senate as he was re-elected in the last elections.


Ibrahim Shekarau

The former governor of Kano State (2003-2011) is presently representing Kano Central Senatorial district in the Senate. He succeeded another ex-governor of the state, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Shekarau was a founding member of APC, but the defection of Kwankwaso to the party prior to 2015 elections forced him to dump the party. He was later appointed as Minister of Education by then President Goodluck Jonathan.

The former governor, who holds a degree in Mathematics Education, taught in various secondary schools as well as served as principal. He was also a two-term president of all Nigerian Secondary Schools Teachers Assocaition.

Shekarau also held various positions in Kano State civil service. They include Director Planning Research and Statistics, Ministry of Education; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Rural and Community Development; Permanent Secretary Administration and General Services, Cabinet Office and Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Commission.
Malam Shekarau retired voluntarily from the service of Kano State civil service in October 2001 and joined politics in 2002.


Kabiru Gaya

Gaya is another former governor of Kano State and he is in the Senate for the fourth consecutive term as the representative of Kano South Senatorial District. He has been in the Red Chamber since 2007. He was the Senate Deputy Minority Whip from 2007 to 2011.

Before his election to the apex legislature, Gaya served as governor of Kano State during the aborted Third Republic between 1992 and 1993. His quest to return to Kano government house in 2003, failed as he lost in the governorship election on the platform of the National Democratic Party (NDP).


Abdullahi Adamu

Adamu has been on the political before the Fourth Republic, having joined politics in 1977, and was elected to the Constituent Assembly, which drafted the constitution for Nigeria’s Second Republic (1979-1983).

He was a pioneer member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN); served as the party’s first Secretary-General and later chairman of the party in old Plateau State between 1978 and 1983. In 1994, he was appointed to the National Constitutional Conference by General Sani Abacha’s regime. In March 1995, he was appointed a Minister of State of Works and Housing and held the position till November 1997.

He was a founding member of PDP in 1998 and was elected governor of Nasarawa State in 1999. He was re-elected in 2007. After the end of his two-term governorship, he became Secretary, Board of Trustees (BOT) of PDP. In 2011, he was elected into the Senate to represent Nasarawa West Senatorial District on the platform of PDP.
He later defected to APC and was re-elected into Senate in 2015. He returned to the Senate for the third consecutive term in the present 9th National Assembly.


Orji Uzor Kalu

The accomplished businessman, served as governor of Abia State between 1999 and 2007. Prior to his election as governor, he served as the chairman of the Borno Water Board and the chairman of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank Limited.

On leaving office as governor, Kalu left the PDP on which he was elected for two terms and formed the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) on which he contested the 2007 presidential election.

Although Kalu won a senatorial seat to represent Abia North in the last general elections, it is not the first time in the federal legislature. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 1992 and 1993 in the aborted Third Republic.


Kashim Shettima

The immediate past governor of Borno State presently represent Borno Central in Senate.
Before becoming governor in 2011, Shettima had served Borno State in various capacities, including commissioners for Finance and Economic Development; Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Education; Agriculture and Health.
He owes his ascension to power to his predecessor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.


Ibikunle Amosun

Amosun is the fourth democratically-elected governor out of the 15 governors, including military and civilian, who have ruled the state. He was elected in 2011 on the platform of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He was, however, re-elected in 2015 on the platform of the APC, following the merger of then main opposition political parties. Ahead of the end of his tenure in May this year, Amosun contested and won a senatorial seat in the 2019 elections and presently represents Ogun Central Senatorial District in the Red Chamber.

Earlier in 2003, he was elected into the Senate on the platform of the PDP, representing Ogun Central. During his tenure at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Amosun served as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce. He also served as member in the Senate Committees on Appropriation, Foreign Affairs, Privatization, as well as Security and Intelligence.


Theodore Orji

The former governor of Abia State was formerly a career civil servant, but at the inception of the Fourth Republic, he first served as Principal
Secretary, Government House, Abia State and later as Chief of Staff to then Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. He succeeded his principal in 2007 on the platform of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA.) He, however, dumped the party, first, for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and later PDP through which he was re-elected in 2011.

Before leaving office in 2015, he contested and won election to represent Abia Central Senatorial District in the Senate.
He won a second term in the recent elections.


Rochas Okorocha

The immediate past governor of Imo State was first elected into office in 2011 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), but he later dumped the party for the APC ahead of the 2015 elections and was re-elected on the platform of the party. Before berthing his political ship in APC, Okorocha has crisscrossed several political parties between 1999 and 2013.
He contested the governorship primaries of the PDP in 1999, but lost to Achike Udenwa.
He moved to the ANPP, and lost its presidential ticket in 2003.

He returned to the PDP, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs. In 2005, he formed the Action Alliance (AA) with the intention to contest the 2007 presidential election before again returning to the PDP in September 2007.
Okorocha, who left office in May, had earlier contested and won a senatorial seat to represent Imo West Senatorial District, but his bid to have his son-in-law succeed him as governor of the south eastern failed.


Sam Egwu

Egwu was governor of Ebonyi State between 1999 and 2007. Before then, he had been a senior lecturer at Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) and Commissioner for Education in Ebonyi State.

In 2008, President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed him Minister of Education, a position he held till April 2010, when he was replaced by Professor Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’i. Egwu was former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s choice to become National Chairman of the PDP at its 2008 National Convention.

However, at the Convention on March 8, 2008, he withdrew in favour of the compromise candidate Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, who was chosen as an alternative to Egwu and his main rival for the position, Anyim Pius Anyim.

In 2015, he contested and won the senatorial election to represent Ebonyi North Senatorial Zone on the platform of PDP and served as chairman Senate Committee on Industry. He was re-elected for a second term in the last general elections.


Tanko Al-Makura

Al-makura stepped down as governor of Nasarawa State in May after serving the constitutionally allowed two terms and like most of his counterparts, the next port of call was the Senate, which seems to have become a nest for former governors. For the former governor, who presently represents Nasarawa South Senatorial District in upper legislative chamber, it has been a long walk in politics.

In 1980, Almakura became the youth leader of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Plateau State.

He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of 1988-89, representing Lafia–Obi Federal Constituency of what is now Nasarawa State. He was state secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC) party in Plateau State from 1990 to 1992.

He was also a founding member of the PDP in 1998. He defected from the PDP after losing the primary elections for the Nasarawa governorship in 1999, but was elected governor in 2011 on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), now defunct and re-elected on the platform of the APC.


Gabriel Suswam

Suswam, who was governor of Benue State between 2007 and 2015, presently represents Benue North East in the Senate.

He was formerly into legal practice before he ventured into politics in 1999, he contested and won the Katsina-Ala/Ukum/Logo Federal Constituency seat of Benue State on the platform of the PDP.

He was appointed Chairman of the House Services Committee, and later Chairman, House Committee on FCT. He was re-elected in 2003 and served as Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, and later as Chairman, House Committee on Power.

In April 2007 he was elected Governor of Benue State. He won a second tenure in the 2011 gubernatorial elections also on the platform of the PDP. His senatorial bid during the 2015 election did not materialize, but his was lucky the second time as he scaled through during the last general elections.

Rotimi Amaechi

The immediate past Minister of Transportation ranks among those who have been in public office since 1999, when he was elected as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly and served as its speaker for eight years (1999-2007).

Before then, Amaechi, who first office in politics was Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State between 1992 and 1994, served as Special Assistant to the then deputy governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, during the aborted Third Republic.

He equally served as Rivers State Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee in 1996 during the transition programme of the General Sanni Abacha-led regime. After eight years as speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Amaechi contested and won the PDP’s governorship primary election for the 2007.

His name was, however, substituted by the party and replaced with that of his cousin, Celestine Omehia, an action, he (Amaechi) challenged in court. The case eventually got to the Supreme Court and Amaechi became governor on October 26, 2007, after the apex court ruled that he was the rightful candidate of the PDP and winner of the 2007 governorship election in Rivers State.

He was reelected for a second term in the 2011 elections. On leaving office in 2015, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as minister of Transportation after serving as the Director-General of his campaign organisation in the 2015 presidential election. Amaechi also served in the same capacity in the recent elections. Again, the President has nominated him for ministerial appointment and has been screened by the Senate.


Babatunde Fashola

As Chief of Staff in Governor Bola Tinubu’s Cabinet (2003-2007), Fashola also doubled as a commissioner, He was the first person to hold the offices at the same time.

He had before then served in various other capacities such as Secretary of the Lands committee of the transitional Work Groups (1999), member of the Panel of Enquiry into Allocation of Houses on the Mobolaji Johnson Scheme in Lekki (2000) and member of the Lagos State Tenders Board (2002).

On May 29, 2007, Fashola became the fourth elected governor of Lagos, succeeding his principal – Tinubu. He held the position till 2015 (two terms) and on leaving office was appointed Minister of Works, Power and Housing in the current administration by President Buhari.
He held the position till May this year and has been renominated to return as a minister in the President’s second term.


Godswill Akpabio

The former governor of Akwa Ibom State and ex-Senate Minority Leader is one of the longest serving public office holders in Akwa Ibom State since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule on May 29, 1999.

A lawyer turned politician, Akpabio was in the private sector for many years before he was appointed as Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources by the then Governor Obong Victor Attah in 2002.

He later served as Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as well as that of Lands and Housing. In 2006, he declared his intention to run for Akwa Ibom State governorship and defeated 57 other aspirants to emerge the PDP candidate in the state. He went ahead to win the main election and was re-elected for a second term in 2011.

In 2015, Akpabio joined the league of ex-governors in the Senate to represent the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District and against all odds as a first timer, he became the Senate Minority Leader.

He resigned the position in August 2018 upon his defection to APC. He lost his re-election bid to former deputy governor of the state, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, who won the poll on the platform of the PDP.
However, the President has nominated him for ministerial appointment.


Rauf Aregbesola

Aregbesola, who left office as governor of Osun State on November 27, 2018 after serving two terms was formerly a Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Lagos State (1999-2007).
Prior to his appointment as commissioner, he was Director of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation (BATCO), which engineered the electoral victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor of Lagos State in 1999.

He performed similar feat using the platform of Independent Campaign Group (ICG) to ensure Tinubu’s reelection for a second term in office. In 2007, Aregbesola contested the governorship election in Osun State on the platform of the then Action Congress (AC) in which the candidate of the PDP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was declared winner.

The Court of Appeal, however, nullified Oyinlola’s victory and declared Aregbesola winner on October 26, 2010. Many had expected that he would contest for a senatorial seat in the 2019 elections like his colleagues after ensuring that his anointed succeeded him but he opted out.
However, Aregbesola, who is the undisputable second-in command in Tinubu’s political family has been nominated to serve as a minister in the federal cabinet by President Buhari.


George Akume

Akume was governor of Benue State between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP. After eight years as governor, he was elected into the Senate on the platform of PDP to represent Benue North-West Senatorial District. He later defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and was re-elected in 2011. He served as Minority Leader from June 2011 to June 2015.
He was re-elected in 2015 for a third, but his bid for a fourth term in the 2019 hit the rocks, but he has been nominated for ministerial appointment by the President.


Timipre Sylva

A former governor of Bayelsa State, Sylva was elected governor during the 2007 general elections on the platform of the PDP, but his opponent, Ebitimi Amgbare of the Action Congress, challenged his victory.

Although the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal upheld Sylva’s election, Amgbare took the matter to the Court of Appeal, which overturned the tribunal’s decision and nullified Sylva’s election on April 15, 2008. The then Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Werinipre Seibarugo was sworn in to replace Sylva as acting governor.

However, a new election was held on May 24, 2008 and Sylva, again won the poll. He was sworn in again on May 27, 2008, but his tenure was terminated by the Supreme Court on January 27, 2012, with an acting governor appointed to oversee the state until the election of February 2012.

Sylva, who had earlier served as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly (1991-1992) before the creation of Bayelsa State on the platform of the then National Republican Convention (NRC) as well as Political Adviser to then Governor Diepriye Alamieyeseigha up till 2002, contested the 2014 Bayelsa governorship election on the platform of the APC, but was defeated by the incumbent, Seriake Dickson.
However, he is on his way back to political reckoning with his recent nomination as a minister by President Buhari.


Chris Ngige

The immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment was governor of Anambra State on the platform of the PDP between May 2003 and March 2006, when he was sacked by the Court of Appeal, which declared the APGA candidate in the election, Peter Obi as winner. The medical doctor turned politician, who accepted the judgement in good faith, attempted to participate in state governorship elections in April 2007, but was disqualified.

He, however, contested the February 2010 governorship poll in the state, but lost to Obi. In 2011, Ngige ran for election for a senatorial election to represent Anambra Central on the platform of the CAN and won. His bid to return to the Red Chamber in 2015 was however dashed as he lost his seat to Mrs. Uche Ekwunife of the PD, who was later unseated by Victor Umeh of APGA through the court.

Succour, however, came his way, when on November 11, 2015, he was named Minister of Labour and Employment by President Buhari. He held the position until May this year, when the Federal Executive Council was dissolved by the President, but he was among the 43 persons recently nominated to make the next cabinet.


Niyi Adebayo

The first executive governor of Ekiti State, Adebayo was in office between May 1999 and May 2003 on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD), when he lost his re-election bid to Ayodele Fayose of the PDP. After the loss, Adebayo opted to stay off mainstream politics, but bounced back at the 2018 National Convention of the APC, following his election as the party’s National Deputy Chairman (South).

He is expected to make a full return to the political scene, this time, at the national level as a member of the federal cabinet with his nomination as a minister by President Buhari. Ogbonnaya Onu A distinguished scholar and academic before his foray into politics, Onu is the first democratically elected governor of old Abia State.

He was in office from February 1992 to November 1993 under the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). He was Chairman of the Governors Forum from 1992-1993.

His four-year term was cut short, when General Sani Abacha sacked the Interim National Government set up by General Babangida after he annulled the 12th June 1993 presidential election. Ahead of the Forth Republic, Onu joined the All Peoples Party (later ANPP) after the ban on political activities was lifted in 1998.

He emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, but never contested the 1999 presidential election because the APP went into a political alliance with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and he had to step down for the AD presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae. He later became the National Chairman of the ANPP at the party’s most trying period of the party.

However, Onu was able to stem the drifting and decimation of the party until its merger with the defunct ACN; CPC and factions of APGA and DPP to form the APC in 2013.

He was among leaders of the APC, who were co-opted into its Interim National Executive Committee that managed the party from July 2013 to June 2014 when a substantive National Executive Committee was elected. He later served as Chairman of the APC presidential Screening Committee that screened aspirants, who vied for the party’s presidential ticket for the 2015 general election.

The APC won the presidential poll through its candidate – Buhari – who appointed Onu as Minister of Science and Technology. Again, Onu is among the 14 immediate past ministers, who the President has nominated to make the federal cabinet in his second term.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/07/senate-fec-ex-govs-call-the-shot/



lalasticlala

It is finished

can somebody summarize

We know all diz bro..

What

Did just read this

Recycling old, greedy politicians everywhere with nothing to show for it.

See tribalisim is the killer of nigerian youth

Mogalu was the best candidate we all saw it ,did we support him ? I wasn't able to vote in the last election because of one or two reasons ....but at least i supported him financially

Peter obi is the best candidate among the old politician. We have ...proven and the results are there ....would we support him ? Nah

Tge northern youths are listening to old dumb imams
Southern youths dont even care

Whats my business self ...na to do and leave nigeria

Weytin happen?na u kill Jesus?
Too long.

Kilode?

Se Ogun l'aiye ni? This is too long

Unfortunately, these are the same set of looters we keep recycling every 3 to 4 years

The long epistle don finish abi or you still get plenty things to write? [color=#006600][/color]

dre11:








https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/07/senate-fec-ex-govs-call-the-shot/



lalasticlala

Let's Nigerians come together and start rejecting people that serve in any political office without any meaningful development in sight.

ok

ok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_qR2rCqjA&fbclid=IwAR1V2AeP5QFm9Kz3lIrgzdH1uEOW8bxwC8O_env-KBALhkDLoz0iqO9Pafk
click and view

Why is this generation so unlucky?
What have we done wrong

We have them here Amosun my governor na only you Ogun state people they worship. Tinu's wife too, go and spend the Lagos money please pastor.

dre11:






Governance: Former governors continue to maintain dominance

Keep scrolling! You done tire I swear

They should be calling the shots when they score let me know