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, who happened to be my old-time friend, actually called to express
his bitterness over what he observed on the television regarding one of the
Nigeria’s governors.
According to the buddy, he had on that very
day watched a governor of one of the states in the 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.
I wish
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 seeming candid
view was informed by the way and manner in which some sitting governors
invariably act as if they are not accountable to anyone.
To assert that currently some governors
operate not unlike an emperor isn’t in any way an overstatement, and such 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.
Why wouldn’t such governor be rated as an
emperor when every other official in the affected state such as the legislators
cum 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 such legal directive
as baseless.
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 such unruly behaviour is
vulnerable, to assert the least. I have often times 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 by him. Similarly,
the deputy governor would be subjected to function as the governor’s appointee.
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 unabated, 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 set up by the FG. This signifies
that 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 that 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 Bill 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 a 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 extreme
point.
We must bear in mind at all times that
he is an elected official, not an emperor, hence the need to question him when
need be. Think about it!
Comrade FDN Nwaozor
National Coordinator,
Right Thinkers Movement
_________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
Twitter: @mediambassador
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