For Nigerian governors who have
spent two terms in office, it’s becoming fashionable to find a soothing nest in
the senate. Since the constitution doesn’t allow third term, the red chamber is
for them the right place to wield influence and maintain political relevance.
The senate is already seen as a retirement home for a litany of former
governors, their ranks might swell up in a few months.
Currently, the former governors
in the red chamber are Jonah Jang (Plateau), Bukola Saraki (Kwara), Joshua
Dariye (Plateau), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Godswill
Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), George Akume (Benue) and
Theodore Orji (Abia).
In this piece, we look at the governors
who, like President Muhammadu Buhari, will slug it out at the polls on
Saturday.
ABIOLA AJIMOBI
Ajimobi was elected governor of
Oyo state in 2011 under the Action Congress of Nigeria which metamorphosed to
All Progressives Congress (APC). He broke the second term jinx in the state in
2015, becoming the first governor to be re-elected for a second term. At the
expiration of the second term on May 29, he is set to return to the upper
legislative chamber he was a member from 2003 to 2007, serving as the deputy
minority leader.
The 69-year-old Ibadan-born
politician is the APC candidate for Oyo south, having displaced the initial
occupant, Adesoji Akanbi, to clinch the party’s ticket. Akanbi later decamped
to African Democratic Congress (ADC) where he hopes to give the governor a run
for his money.
At a stakeholders’ forum in
Ibadan, the state capital, Lamidi Adeyemi, the alaafin of Oyo, tipped Ajimobi
as the next senate president if he succeeds in his bid.
ROCHAS OKOROCHA
Okorocha has maintained a strong
presence in the political scene and become a force to be reckoned with even
before he was elected governor of Imo state. The 56-year-old astute businessman
had contested for governor in 1999 and lost, contested for presidency and was
special adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He has also enjoyed
unfettered movement across parties, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), APC
and also formed the Action Alliance (AA), under which his son-in-law, Uche
Nwosu is contesting as a governor.
He was elected governor of the
state in 2011 and was re-elected in 2015. With the end of the second term in
the offing, Okorocha won the APC primary election to represent Imo west
senatorial district. According to him, it would be a disservice to the nation
if he failed to contest considering his “wealth of experience” as a governor
for eight years.
“I have decided to run for the
Imo west senatorial zone because if I don’t, bad people will take the
position,” the governor said.
IBIKUNLE AMOSUN
Amosun, the senator for Ogun
central district from 2003 to 2007, lost in his bid to become governor in 2007.
But fortune smiled on him in 2011 and he was re-elected for a second term in
2015. With just a few months to the end of his tenure, the 61-year-old
politician is set to go back to the senate to represent Ogun central.
However, the governor’s ambition
has pitched him against Lanre Tejuosho, who is the present senator for the
district. Tejuosho had announced his defection alongside 14 senators on the floor
of the senate in July but he made a detour 24 hours later when he joined 43 APC
senators for a meeting with Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Even with the tense political
atmosphere in the state as a result of the crisis that ensued during the
presidential rally on Monday, Amosun might face less hurdle in achieving his
ambition.
IBRAHIM DANKWAMBO
Dankwambo rose through the ranks
in his professional and political careers. He worked at the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) from 1988 to 1999 when he was appointed accountant-general of
Gombe state. He held that position till 2005 when he became accountant-general
of the federation. Two years later, he was appointed governor of Gombe under
the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), serving out his second
term.
He had joined the presidential
race but lost the party’s ticket to Atiku Abubakar. While he picked the
presidential form, Mohammed Ribadu, one of his commissioners, obtained the
senatorial form for Gombe central district. After losing the presidential
primary, securing marginal 111 votes far behind the 1,532 votes of Atiku,
Ribadu held a rally to welcome Dankwambo back to the state. There and then, he
announced that he had stepped down for the governor.
Ribadu said Dankwambo deserves to
contest the senatorial election because of his achievements in the last eight
years. While he could have picked the ticket easily, he has a tough race ahead.
Danjuma Goje, whom he succeeded as governor, is currently representing the
district in the upper legislative chamber. Goje is running on the platform of
APC. Having also ruled the state for eight years, he is not in anyway a
pushover.
Dankwambo is the only PDP
governor contesting the senatorial election.
ABDULAZIZ YARI
With the governor’s declaration
to run for the Zamfara west senatorial district, Yari is ready to unseat his
godfather Ahmad Yerima, a former governor of the state serving a third term in
the red chamber. Yari was a member of the house of representatives from 2007 to
2011 after which he was elected the governor under the platform of ANPP. He was
re-elected in 2015 under APC. Yari is the chairman of Nigeria’s Governor’s
Forum (NGF).
“You know, I was from the
national assembly before I became a governor. In fact, my colleagues from the
national assembly used to say I am here on sabbatical. So, my going to the
senate is like I am going back home,” the 51-year-old governor said in an interview.
But Yari has a hurdle to cross
before the day of the election. Except the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) lifts the ban on APC candidates in the state, his senatorial
dream will end on the day he was supposed to seal it. The internal crisis in
the state chapter of the APC led to the fiasco. Yari’s fate as far as the
senate is concerned, is still hanging in the balance.
IBRAHIM GAIDAM
With the end of his tenure in
May, Geidam has his eyes on the Yobe east senatorial seat having displaced
Bukar Ibrahim, the present occupant who is a three-term senator and three-time
former governor of the state.
Geidam was deputy governor until
the death of Mamman Ali, the state governor, in 2009. He was sworn in as
governor and re-elected for a second term in 2011.
With the APC having a strong base
in the crisis-ridden state as the ruling party, the 62-year-old politician is a
man to look out for at the polls.
IBRAHIM SHETTIMA
Shettima had declared his
intention of running for the Borno central senatorial district without mincing
words and he has been on a campaign trail to achieve his ambition. The senator
representing the district, Baba Kaka Garbai, stood down for him, making the
coast clearer for the governor on Saturday.
The 52-year-old former banker and
commissioner of finance will complete his second term as governor of the state
in May. He escaped a Boko Haram attack just four days to the senatorial poll
but at least three people in his convoy were not that lucky.
TANKO Al-MAKURA
AL-Makura, governor of Nassarawa
state, is also going to the polls hoping to win the seat for the southern
senatorial district of the state under the APC. With the end of his second term
tenure in a few months, he is battling to unseat Suleimam Adokwe, who has been
representing the district under the PDP since 2007.
“I am more prepared for the
senate than the incumbent to be frank with you, because if you look at what we
have done in the past seven and a half years compared to the twelve years of
the current occupant of the seat, you would have every reason to support us
than vote for what is best described as wasted years,” the governor told his
supporters at a campaign rally.
At the moment, the battle is
between APC and PDP, we’ll be on the lookout to see if the incumbency factor
would help the outgoing governor.
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