I had almost gone to bed on the eve of 2016 Christmas when a phone call filtered in from Germany to engage me in an informal chat as usual.
The caller, Kunle, who happened to be my old-time friend, actually called to express his bitterness over what he observed on the television regarding one of Nigeria’s governors.
According to the buddy, he had on that very day watched a governor of one of the states in Southern Nigeria commissioning a Christmas tree worth over half a billion naira whilst the leader in question was reportedly owing workers and pensioners in the state for several months.
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I thereafter wished Mr. Kunle would someday meet with my Dad whom I often refer to as a political philosopher. The old man – a well experienced octogenarian – one day informed me unequivocally that some states across the country were suffering from economic epilepsy, thus needed to undergo holistic lobotomy.
His seemingly candid view was informed by the way and manner in which some sitting governors invariably acted as if they were not accountable to anyone, and such an attitude had continued unabated.
To assert that currently some governors in Nigeria and other African nations operate not unlike an emperor isn’t in any way an overstatement, and such a weird custom is not peculiar to a particular state or region in the country. It suffices to say that virtually all the governors have been indicted of such bilious and nonchalant lifestyle.
Take for instance, a situation where a governor would refuse to conduct the Local Government (LG) council elections in his state and such scenario would linger till he leaves office. In most cases, he would put up a façade in the name of an election towards the expiration of his tenure, perhaps to prove to people that LG polls were eventually conducted under his watch.
This particular act of virtually all the sitting governors in Nigeria has ostensibly grounded the existence and functionality of the third tier government within the shores and caprices of the country.
Why wouldn’t such a governor be rated as an emperor when the officials of the other arms of government in the affected state such as the legislators and judicial custodians would remain a rubber stamp as the unfortunate scene prevails? Funnily enough, when a court orders the governor to without much ado conduct the long awaited LG polls, he would rather regard the legal directive as baseless, hence nothing to worry or be concerned about.
On a monthly basis, the Federal Government (FG) would release funds entitled by the third tier governments via the various states. In the process, the said allocation would be hijacked by the governors and such funds would never be utilized on the projects for which they were meant. Instead, they would be channeled toward the implementation of non-feasible projects.
The judicial system in the states suffering from the unruly behaviour is vulnerable, to assert the least. I have often witnessed a situation whereby an injunction is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction to stop a governor from taking a certain intended action, yet the latter would overlook the order with the notion that he alone has the final say in the state.
The vulnerability of the lawmakers in such states cannot be left out. Rather than act as independent elected officials, the legislators would be reduced to mere aides of the governor thus would invariably be left with no choice than to operate as they were instructed.
Similarly, the deputy governor would be seen subjected to function as the governor’s appointee, hence the former could be impeached or suspended anytime at will. What is left for this set of governors is to fence their states in order to possess it as their birthright or personal asset.
As the uncalled ill lingers endlessly, it’s noteworthy that the FG has a very vital role to play with a view to addressing it. There is a compelling need to, by law, scrap the various states’ electoral commissions.
By so doing, the conduct of the LG elections would become the prerogative of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), or its like that may be consequently set up by the FG. This signifies it would no longer be the responsibility of the governors to determine when and how the said polls would be held in their respective states.
The anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) need to also shift their tentacles to the various states, to serve as a deterrent to all the public officers in the area. They must ensure they could boast of well-equipped branches in all the states across the federation, and such extensions must be manned by competent and trustworthy individuals who cannot compromise their statutory obligations irrespective of whose ox is gored.
The Fourth Alteration Act that grants financial autonomy to State Judiciaries and State Houses of Assembly recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari is equally a way forward. Similarly, granting financial autonomy to the third tier government is long overdue.
Inter alia, it’s high time the electorate woke up from slumber. They need to fully acknowledge that they possess the constitutional immunity to recall any lawmaker who is not living up to the expectations. Also, they needn’t be reminded that it’s equally their right to say enough is enough whenever the impunity of their governor goes to extremes.
They must, therefore, bear in mind at all times that he is an elected official, not an emperor, hence the need to question his person when need be.