2019: Can Lagos deputy governor break second term jinx?

Since 1999, no deputy governor has served for two terms in Lagos State. Will the case of Dr. Oluranti Adebule be different? As the state prepares for next year’s poll, Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the scramble for the number two position.

In the last 19 years, Lagos State has produced three governors-Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Akinwunmi Ambode, who has been endorsed for a second term like his predecessors.

Also, the state has produced five deputy governors-Senator Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor, Otunba Olufemi Pedro, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, Princess Sarah Sosan and Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire-before Dr. Idiat Adebule came on board in 2015. But, none of them was re-elected.

Can Adebule, university teacher, former Secretary to Government and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain from Iba/Ojo break the second term jinx? Will she be as lucky as Second Republic Deputy Governor Rafiu Jafojo, who was re-elected with his boss, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, in 1983?

Many party stalwarts have described Adebule is a loyal deputy. But, according to party sources, there are also some loyal APC women who are eyeing the position as a matter of legitimate right. They include Commissioner for Youths and Social Development Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, Special Adviser on Culture and Tourism Aramide Mudrat Giwanson, South West and APC Women Leader Chief Kemi Nelson, a former Commissioner for Women Affairs, and former Caretaker Chairman of Ojokoro Council Fausat Hassan-Olajokun. The four chieftains are from Lagos West Senatorial District.

Since the Third Republic, certain criteria were considered before selecting running mates in the ruling parties. They include gender, religion and sub-ethnic balancing, although religion could also be a camouflag. When the late Chief Michael Otedola, a Christian, became the candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), a Muslim, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, was selected as his running mate. But, the picture contrasted with the Second Republic when two Muslims, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Jafojo, were presented to Lagosians by the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). While religion was not a factor, it was said that the party leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, insisted on Jafojo, an Awori, for ethnic balancing, just as he prevailed on Ondo State Governor Adekunle Ajasin from Owo to make the late Chief Akin Omoboriowo from Ekiti his deputy.

Only few strong politicians will opt for the second fiddle, except out of desperation. Many scholars have described the position as an incurable frustration, judging by the power relations between the seemingly idle deputy governors and their power-loaded bosses under the presidential system. The 1999 Constitution is unkind to the spare tyres. The prospects of more powers and greater roles under the constitution are slim. Unlike commissioners and special advisers, the deputy governor is not assigned any constitutional roles. He or she is the nominal second-in-command to the governor, only permitted to act whenever the governor is not around, when he is sick or on annual leave. Even, the Chief of Staff is usually more powerful and influential.

Since the deputy governors merely warm the seats in the executive chambers in some states, there is usually friction between them and the chief executives. Whenever they raise eyebrows, they are shoved aside by impeachment, the weapon wielded by governors who have domineering influence over the respective Houses of Assembly. Throughout the history of presidential system in Nigeria, governors and their deputies have not always maintained absolute cordial relations, despite being active politicians and political leaders in their respective constituencies.

However, despite the overwhelming constraints, the number two slot is a hallowed position and an attractive portfolio for some reasons. It confers honour and prestige on the occupant. It can also be a stepping stone to the driver’s seat, making some people to lobby for it. What makes an office that is often despised as spare tyre important is that, in a rare moment of emergency when the governor is impeached or he dies in office, the deputy governor instantly becomes the governor.

A political scientist, Boniface Ayodele, submitted that, despite the elusive power and fading influence, deputy governors can be potential governors. He said that is why governors and their deputies may not be best of friends. Noting that their relationship is often characterised by suspicion, hate and jealousy, he blamed the deputy governors for not embracing the fact they have constitutional limitations. “The deputy governors are imposed on the governors by the party structure. They may belong to different caucuses within the ruling party. In most cases, the governors are not permitted to choose their running mates. Deputy governors may be selected for ethnic or zonal balancing, and without due consideration for competence,” added Ayodele, who teaches at the University of Ado-Ekiti.

The point of departure is that, in Lagos State, deputy governors have not been idle since 2007. Sosan, a professional educator, was also the Commissioner for Education. Her successor, Orelope-Adefulire, supervised the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Eradication. Dr. Adebule doubles as Education Commissioner. Judging by the quantum of official duties in Lagos, which is a mini-country, the governors are compelled to delegate some functions.

The first deputy governor in this dispensation was Bucknor. The daughter of the late Dr. Oni Akerele, first President of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, was a senator in the Third Republic and the only active and visible chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), who was not harassed, molested and detained by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. She was a governorship aspirant in 1999. But, her ambition was not intimidating to any contender. A harmonious working relationship became impossible as the deputy governor was perceived to be struggling for the driver’s seat with her boss. That led to early political separation. When the impeachment axe dangled, she hurriedly resigned.

In his book, ‘Reflections of a public man,’ a leader of Lagos APC, Oba Olatunji Hamzat, stated that Bucknor won the deputy governorship ticket because of her role in the June 12 struggle, despite reservations by the Justice Forum and Afenifere Unity Forum, led by Chief Muraina Taiwo.

Oba Hamzat recalled: “Despite this, Alhaji Busura Alebiosu had warned a gathering of both Justice Forum and Afenifere Unity Forum leadership that we had not reflected well on the candidacy of Bucknor-Akerele. Alebiosu, the strongman of Kosofe politics and state Vice Chairman of Justice Forum, had shared the same council apartment in London, England with Buknor-Akerele’s elder brother when they were both young students in the early 1960s. The young Kofo, at one time or the other, also lived in the apartment with her elder brother. Busura had known her then as a violatile and combative person, who seemed to enjoy trenchant, screaming rigidity, contemptuous of compromise, difficult and indifferent to popular rallying.

“Busura prophetically pointed out this much, inferring that the candidate (Tinubu) would be saddled with a very difficult woman to work with. Even, Tinubu expressed fears about any amicable possibility in the relationship with the deputy governor-designate. He mentioned their brief relationship at the Senate in the Third Republic. He invoked the same strong-willed, iron character that Busura had once encountered more than three decades before.

“Again, despite these misgivings, the leaders still rallied behind Bucknor-Akerele, invited her individually for counselling and tempering guidance in her relationship with her boss. I invited her to my house and expressed the general fears of the leadership and that of the candidate himself. She promised to be a good trooper and an obedient and cooperative deputy. Of course, the future would reveal that she had not changed. But, that was in the future.”

In those days of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Afenifere/AD leaders were taken aback by the lack of amity between the governor and the deputy governor. As Tinubu left Lagos for the meeting of the AD outside the state, the deputy governor also left for the same meeting, without consulting with him. Also, the deputy governor unfolded plans to tour the local governments without the governor’s approval. What signaled the parting of ways was the refusal of protocol officers to allow the deputy governor to enter the Council Chambers through the “governor’s route and door” at the Round House, the seat of power. She protested, but without success. When Information and Strategy Commissioner Dele Alake came up with the tale of a “weeping grandma,” supporters of the deputy governor embraced the imminence of the end of an era.

In post-Bucknor period, names of some politicians-Tawa Williams, Uthman Shodipe and Supo Sonibare-were suggested in hushed tones. But, the governor seemed to prefer a non-partisan professional as replacement. Tinubu had an agenda to reclaim the Southwest from the grip of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Thus, he needed an effective deputy who will be insulated from the inferno of politics. Up came Lateef Pedro, a brilliant, vocal and successful banker. He was a good boy and beneficiary of delegated duties. A trusted ally, he presided over cabinet meetings, represented the governor in the Council of State meetings, received the president at the airport and signed critical documents on behalf of his boss.

At the twilight of the administration, Pedro gazed at the number one position with much confidence and optimism. But, his governorship ambition crashed as Tinubu rooted for Fashola, who he described as a SAN with a sound mind. The deputy governor allegedly refused a senatorial offer on a platter of gold. In protest, he left for the Labour Party (LP), and later, the PDP, before retracing his steps to the APC.

Following Pedro’s impeachment, Tinubu appointed former AD chairman and governorship aspirant Prince Abiodun Ogunleye as deputy governor. The eminent chartered accountant was former Finance and later, Heath Commissioner in Brigadier Oyinlola’s military government.   He spent two barely two weeks in office.

In 2007, a search time recommended Sosan as a suitable running mate to Fashola. He is the daughter of a party elder, the late Prince Remi Durosimi. Both enjoyed cordial relations. Apart from deputising for the governor, he also had much to do in the Ministry of Education. But, she missed the second term opportunity. The circumstances surrounding her unsuitability for continuity will remain in the realm of conjecture. Although relations between Fashola and some powerful Action Congress (AC) leaders have also strained before 2011, the governor was given the nod to re-contest because he had performed creditably.

Sosan’s successor, Tawakalitu Orelope Adefulire, was in office between 2011 and 2015. Her tenure ended with that of Fashola. Although her senatorial ambition in Lagos West could not fly, she was later appointed by President Buhari as a Special Assistant for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Sources said her successor, Adebule, had premonition about her selection as running mate to Ambode. On an occasion, her boss had jocularly said that she may have to wait behind after his departure, urging the civil servants to cooperate with her. But, another source said a journalist, lawyer and former commissioner was penciled down for the job. Yet, another source said former House of Representatives member Abike Dabiri was considered, but later dropped because she is from Lagos East, where Ambode hails from.

Adebule was favoured by religious and sub-ethnic considerations. A cerebral don and committed Muslim, she knows her onions. Being relatively younger, active and vibrant, a source said she had on some occasions complained mildly about not having enough delegated functions to keep her busy. However, there is no serious bone of contention between her and the governor, and between her and the party leadership. But, as more women continue to struggle for the position, the question is: can Adebule break the second term jinx?

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