The 18 state governors that left office either because they lost their re-election bids or served out their constitutionally allowed two terms in office, appear to have targets on their backs as their successors are sparing no effort to expose their failures and reverse key policies.
In a number of states, the newly inaugurated governors are setting up committees to recover government assets that were sold by their predecessors, raising legal questions about the weight documents signed by executive governors have once they leave office.
Political associates of the former governors who are on the receiving end of the actions of newly sworn-in state executives expressed views to LEADERSHIP Sunday, suggesting that some of these policy reversals have political undertones.
But by the attempts by the new governors to score political points by throwing spanners in the works of their predecessors, they may be crossing the boundaries of their constitutionally derived powers. Legal luminaries have picked holes in their actions, saying the decisions of their predecessors are binding, though they could be reviewed.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Wahab Shittu, believes the law empowered the former governors to take lawful decisions on behalf of the state and allows the new governor to review the decisions within legal boundaries.
Shittu stated, “According to the 1999 Constitution as amended, all governors are empowered to make decisions and implement them on behalf of their states.
“So, any decision or action taken by a predecessor in office is binding on the new governor. He cannot just wake up and begin to undo the lawful activities of the former administrator, particularly those that affected third parties. To do this is reckless and dictatorial.
“However, these decisions or transactions may be reviewed by a new government to determine if the former abused his power or the action violates the law,” the lawyer stated.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu, in the nearly three weeks he has been in office, has not lifted a finger to undercut the political standing of his predecessor in office, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, or even reverse unpopular policies of the former governor.
In fact, the governor has not appointed media aides to interface with the public and has only appointed the secretary to the state government, a development that has almost grounded to a halt, the activities of the executive arm of government. Mbah, however appears to be an exception as other governors seem threatened by the shadows of their predecessors, even when they share the same political party.
Since its assumption of office on May 29, the new administration in Abia State has made several announcements to nullify appointments, union leadership or decisions taken by the previous government.
Right from the moment he took the oath of office at the Umuahia Township Stadium in the state capital, Umuahia, Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party, who displaced the PDP’s 24-year rule in the state, indicated that some of the recent appointments by his predecessor would be reviewed.
Among the first casualties were the 17 local government council chairmen and their deputies, board chairmen, heads of departments, agencies, schools, parastatals and market union leadership among others.
He has terminated the appointments of revenue enforcement agents and suspended levies on commercial transportation to sanitize the methods of collection and stop extortion, intimidation and harassment of the operators.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday on condition of anonymity, one of the most vocal commissioners of the past administration said he was not surprised at Otti’s reversal of the appointments, cancellations and terminations.
Appealing to the governor to be sure they are not acting out in vendetta, the former commissioner said he and some of his colleagues had adopted “a siddon look position,” adding that democracy is all about changes from time to time.
I’m Sad, Designer Of Kano’s Demolished Monument Speaks, Condemns Govt’s Action
A Lagos-based senior lawyer, Jonathan Ndakara, noted that most governors operate like emperors whose actions cannot be questioned. They see the people as conquered people.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, he said institutions like the legislature and the judiciary which should check them are trampled upon and are not allowed to function in line with the law.
Ndakara also noted that the legislature should be where the people’s power reside. But governors, in their deft power play, have rendered their legislatures impotent.
He further maintained, “I agree that all governors are invested with executive powers and their actions and any transaction done on behalf of the state ought to be respected, accepted and defined by the new administrations; though this may not always be in the people’s best interest.
“In as much as I don’t want new governors to waste too much time on probing past administrations, they must do so in some cases. However, it must not be based on vendetta or done without recourse to the law.
“The new governors must not back out of contracts and other transactions that were validly and lawfully done to spite their predecessors because beneficiaries of such actions can sue the government and may be heavily compensated by the court,” he stated.
In Kano, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has shown no patient for bureaucratic processes and has simply sent bulldozers to demolish structures he believes were erected on public property after the lands were allegedly sold by his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Analysts believe the sale of government lands by the former governor is legally binding and the courts find Governor Yusuf to have acted in haste, but he has already made his point. He is the new man in Government House, and he is in charge.
The most contentious demolition embarked upon by the government of Yusuf has been that of Daula Hotel, which was signed and sealed by then governor, Abdullahi Ganduje. While the developer has vowed to go to court, the demolition exercise has remained in the news because some deaths have been reported with people trapped under the rubble of what was once Daula Hotel.
Suggesting the developers could be politically affiliated to the All Progressives Congress, Ganduje, while commiserating with families of victims of the demolished hotel, also commiserated with property owners who he believes legally acquired and developed structures ‘for business and other purposes but were destroyed by the New Nigeria People’s Party government in the state without any form of investigation.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Abdul Balogun, said the people will be negatively affected, if they fail to do what they are elected to do.
To him, some residents with genuine land document will suffer loss in the demolition being carried out by the new governor.
He said, “The new governors should face governance instead trying to get back to thir successor. The residents of the state will suffer over the actions of the governors. It is a case of two elephants fighting while the grass suffers”.
Another senior lawyer, Dauda Adagba, on his part warned the governors not to take the electorate for granted.
According to him, “those who elected them cannot suffer for the “fight” between the two heavyweights in the states”.
Constitutional lawyer, Henry Anslem, said those with genuine land documents who are affected the n the demolition should approach the court for redress.
To him, they should not be made to suffer for the disagreement between the old and the new helmsmen in the state.
“I will advise those affected by the demolition to go to court for compensation. We are not in a banana republic and they should be not be made to suffer for what they know nothing about”, he said.
In almost all the 18 states, the first issues the new governors are tackling relate to recruitment of workers, political appointments and the recovery of public property. In Plateau, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party has taken on the additional task of getting rid of local government chairmen who are all members of the APC.
The state government has also inaugurated a task force on the recovery of purportedly auctioned government property by the APC administration in the state.
Hon. Pam Gyang Davou, secretary of the task force, has however said the exercise is not in any way in conflict with the governor’s pronouncement that his administration is not out to witch-hunt anyone or any organisation, but rather wants to engender appropriate protocols of accountability for the overall interest of the people of Plateau State.
Davou has asked anyone in possession of boarded or auctioned government property to kindly stop any form of development on such property pending the completion of this exercise.
Similarly, Governor Mutfwang has directed the suspension of all appointments made by the immediate past administration of the former governor, Simon Lalong, into the state civil service from October 1, 2022.
The suspension, the governor has said, became necessary in-view of the flagrant abuse of public service rules, non-adherence to due process, indiscriminate and irregular employment in the state and local governments by the immediate past administration.
According to the immediate past Head of Service, Engr. Sunday Hyat, only 4000 people were recruited into the state civil service. When contacted for comments, Hyat said since the inception of the administration of Simon Lalong, he did not conduct any recruitment exercise until his last year in office. He added that the recruitment was meant to re-engineer the civil service which is the engine room of any government.
In Benue, Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia has nullified all appointments into the state civil service made by the previous governor, Samuel Ortom, going back to May 2022. The governor has also raised issues with official cars carted away by Otom and why the previous government handled the payment of pensions.
It would be recalled that prior to the inauguration of the new governor, the then ruling PDP and the APC had engaged in a war of words over last minute policies made by the Ortom administration ranging from recruitment of over 2,500 workers, promotion of staff and award of contracts.
An aide to Ortom, Terver Akase, has responded by saying Governor Alia is trying to use the former governor as a scapegoat.
According to him, the governor has accused his predecessor of carrying out recruitment into the civil service without due process; handing to him an empty treasury and looting government vehicles, among several other unfounded accusations.
He said, “The present governor did everything to frustrate his predecessor to the point of writing to banks not to honour any transaction by the former government. Even at that, the Ortom administration still funded the May 29 inauguration.
“While we won’t go into a war of words with the governor despite the media trial, it is pertinent to clarify that the Ortom administration followed due process in recruiting the workers who the present government sacked a few days ago. “Vacancies were duly advertised in national newspapers and those who applied for the jobs were properly interviewed/screened and the successful ones were given appointment letters as required by civil service rules. “Promotions were also carried out according to the laid down service regulations.
“We expected the Alia administration to specifically point out the areas where it claimed that due process was not followed in the recruitments, instead of making sweeping statements and spurious generalizations.
“On the issue of vehicles, the present administration may wish to be informed that it was the decision of the Benue State executive council that government officials including the governor and his deputy be given waivers to enable them to go with the official vehicles allocated to them. Governor Ortom therefore did nothing unlawful by leaving office with the official vehicles allocated to him.
“It is a tradition that an outgoing governor leaves with vehicles given to him. Perhaps we should add that the Ortom administration offered to buy vehicles for the incoming government but the present governor declined, saying he would prefer to buy vehicles for his administration after the inauguration.”
In Rivers State, the new and former governors are also from the same political party, the PDP. And in a sign that he won’t follow in the footsteps of his predecessor on every issue, Governor Siminalaye Fubara recently revoked and re-awarded the contract for the construction of the Andoni section of the Ogoni/Opobo/Nkoro/Andoni Unity Road project.
The contract was awarded by the immediate-past governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and the state government paid for it in full. Fubara has however said nothing about the previous contractors refunding the state.
Speaking after revoking the contract, Fubara said the decision was based on the obvious failure of the contractor to deliver the project after several years.
The governor explained that one year ago, the state government held a meeting with Andoni opinion leaders and the contractors to work out modalities for smooth execution of the project and all agreeable contractual terms were met by the government but the contractors had failed on their part.
In Niger State, Governor Mohammed Umar Bago has stopped the mass recruitment exercise started by his predecessor, Abubakar Sani Bello. Even though they are both from the same party, the governor has reversed the sale of some government properties and has demolished properties the outgoing administration gave approval to be built within the state capital.
In a circular signed by the Head of Service Abubakar Saliu, said the governor has ordered the suspension of all forms of employment into the services of both state and local governments.
It was gathered that the new government might have stopped the exercise owing to allegations of lopsidedness and fear of inheriting an over-bloated workforce with its inherent financial burden.
Similarly the government revoked land titles issued by the previous government and has so far demolished a fuel and police station.
Attempts to get the reaction of the immediate past governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, proved abortive but one his former aides who preferred anonymity, said;
“Government is a continuous process that includes making amends when necessary.”
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