It has now become an all-too-familiar spectacle: a governor falls sick and is hospitalized and the entire state goes to the hospital bed with him; the governor travels abroad for whatever reason; and the state is checked-in with his luggage. When the carousel malfunctions, the people’s destiny, of course, languishes in airport storage. This would be funny; were it not pathetically true. But this, sadly, is the reality of Nigerians in the hands of their absentee governors. The flagrant impunities and imperiousness that reign in governance in Nigeria is driven by a conquest mentality on the part of the so-called leaders. Having “won” the office, the people stay conquered and so-called leaders are in office only for service to self. Yet, a culture of service to all is what Nigeria’s elected officers should imbibe. In the face of this situation, the conspicuous silence of President Goodluck Jonathan is worrisome, to say the least.
The unfolding political drama in Taraba State involving Governor Danbaba Suntai and state lawmakers, who insist Suntai is unfit to resume his official duties, once again, illustrates the disrespect with which elected public officials treat their electors and the scant regard they have for the country’s constitution. A ghost-like, frail-looking, tired, and disillusioned Suntai returned last weekend after over 10 months absence following a plane crash last October, that all but left him incapacitated. He could barely walk; and mumbled some audible whispers to the people who came to welcome him at the airport. A letter seeking approval to resume his constitutional duties was later sent to the House. But before lawmakers could make a determination on his ability to resume work, Suntai sacked the entire cabinet, creating chaos and precipitating a near governance and administrative collapse.
The controversial decision was indeed, unexpected, coming at a manifestly inauspicious time; which made it even more curious; and all but rendered its intention doubtful and suspicious. A spanner was thrown in the works, when 16 of the 24 lawmakers endorsed a statement saying the Governor was unfit to resume work; and he should continue with his recovery. House Speaker, Haruna Tsokwa, noted that after visiting Suntai on August 28, House leaders were convinced that the governor could not have written the letter transmitted to the Speaker. Consequently, it was resolved that the deputy governor, Garba Umar, “remains the acting governor of the state and would continue to act in that regard until a time Suntai is capable to govern the state.”
Of course, there is nothing wrong in a governor being away from his office if the need arises. As a matter of fact, the constitution envisages and makes allowance for it. What is wrong, however, is the penchant for some governors to ignore, for self-serving reasons, the provision of the constitution which demands that when a governor is leaving his duty post, he should put in place requisite mechanism for the sustenance or running of government business. In other words, government must not be incapacitated by the absence or incapacitation of the incumbent governor. To ensure this, the constitution provides for the office of the Deputy Governor whose sole responsibility is to stand in for the Governor in the event of illness or absence. In fact, that is the only responsibility constitutionally ascribed to the Deputy Governor in the lifetime of the incumbent. This is the clear intendment of Section 190 (2) of the 1999 Constitution. It is the contemplation of the constitution that this interim transition of executive powers shall be smooth, straight forward, and devoid of acrimony. Regrettably, this is far from being the case as governors abscond with gubernatorial powers in crass and flagrant disregard of these constitutional stipulations.
The prolonged and sometimes unexplained absence from office also shows the predilection of the governors to turn their states into their private estates with negative adverse effects on governance. The lingering absence of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State led to agitations such as could lead to a breakdown of peace. Chime took a cumulative leave of absence, which exceeded the permissible limit, yet, there was no trace of the governor even in the face of agitation, speculation and restiveness, which this generated. In Cross River, kicking against the personification of governance was not so loud but no one was fooled into believing that any governance was happening in Liyel Imoke’s absence. In Taraba, Governor Suntai’s absence initially grounded the state as little could be done in his absence.
The question is: why are the elected leaders at various levels afraid to hand over to their deputies? Why would the President be afraid to hand over to the Vice President or a governor to his deputy? It was this attitude that led to the unnecessary political crisis following the failure of late president Yar’Adua, to hand over to then vice-president Goodluck Jonathan when he was incapacitated by ill-health, until maximum pressure from the populace compelled the National Assembly to break the constitutional deadlock with its doctrine of necessity. Of what relevance, is the oath of office sworn to by these officials by which they undertake to discharge their duties “to the best of their ability, faithfully and in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” if an obligation as basic as handing over to a person presumably co-elected as their deputy becomes a difficult task. After all, the governor and his deputy are bound by a joint – ticket. The deputy governors must be prepared at all times to rise up to the occasion whenever it is imperative to do so, to preserve the dignity attached to the office. The constitution demands that “the Deputy Governor shall perform the functions of the Governor as Acting Governor.” He is not expected to do less.
The State Houses of Assembly, of course, have become rubber-stamps for governors and have abdicated, for pecuniary gains, the role they ought to play to douse the tension created by the continued absence of their governors. The State Legislature should wake from inertia and justify its existence as an arm created to rein in the executive branch. Failure by any governor to transmit any declaration to the House of Assembly regarding his vacation or absence, that would be a fundamental aberration, nay a violation of the constitution, which may expose him to gross official misconduct. In such a situation, the State Assembly only needs to wait for 21 days and not eternity, as many do now, to invoke the provision of Section 190 (2) of the Constitution which enjoins it to pass a resolution by a simple majority mandating the deputy governor to “perform the functions of the office of the governor as Acting Governor until the Governor transmits a letter to the Speaker that he is now available to resume his functions as Governor.” This is what Taraba lawmakers did when Suntai and his aides were involved in a tragic plane crash on October 25, 2012. The Taraba lawmakers have again re-affirmed their decision, without any unnecessary grand standing; it is in Governor Suntai’s interest to respect the rule of law; or open the floodgates of possible impeachment. The choice is his!
