They took oath of office on May 29, 1999. Thus, taking the centre stage in the running and administering the 36 units that Nigeria was divided into by the military.
More than 20 years after, one of them, Asiwaju Bola Hammed Tinubu, is now the President of Nigeria and by implication the number one citizen of the country. He earlier governed Lagos State for 8 years.
Since the invention of writing that enables man to write and keep records of events and activities, scribes, who put human deeds and activities in writing have come to occupy an elevated vintage position in the socio-political structure of man and society. Today, another governor who had superintended the administration of Benue State, George Akume, emerged the secretary to the government of the federation. He was a two-term governor of Benue State. If protocol that recognises the Vice President as the number two citizen in the country is put aside, the two most powerful men in Nigeria today are Bola Ahmed Tinubu and George Akume.
The image of Akume looms large in the present administration because, he is the secretary to the government of the federation. If a secretary is the officer, who records all the activities and transactions of a company, government, club and every other corporate body, his/her role can not be relegated or regarded as not important or insignificant. There is no government activity or transaction that is hidden from the secretary. It is, therefore, not wrong or false to assert that the country rests on the strong bipod, if you like call it two powerful pillars that Tinubu and Akume represent in the organogram of today’s Nigeria.
Recall that Tinubu is not the first in the 1999 class of governors, who started their return to governance at a higher level after leaving the governor’s office. The late Umaru Yar’Adua was the lucky first governor that became the President of Nigeria in 2008. He succeeded Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who spent eight years in office, from 1999 to 2007. Regrettably, Yar’Adua could not complete his four-year term as he died in office in 2010, during a medical hospitality in Saudi Arabia.
The emergence of Tinubu as the number one citizen in Aso-Rock 15 years after governing Lagos State for eight years had rung a clarion call bell. Contemporaries of Tinubu in governance responded to the call as they streamed to Aso-Rock to congratulate a worthy colleague, who has made it to the pinnacle of governance in the country.
The ex-governors’ visit to Aso-Rock has, however, raised many questions. Why did they go on the visit? There are those who saw it as a mere courtesy call, while others regarded it as an opportunity for them to remind Tinubu that they are still around and ready to participate in government if they are invited. Self-centredness you may say. Is the country for only them? This provokes the question: Where are they now? What are they doing at present? Why are they still itching to come back to participate in governance?
Not all the 36 who were pioneer governors in the Fourth Republic left office the same time. There were those who served for a single term and those who were lucky to have completed the mandatory two terms.
Twenty-Four of them completed their two-term. The second term of the governor of Bayelsa State, the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was aborted in 2005. He was impeached on December 9, 2005 by the state legislators, who sat for his impeachement in Lagos.
The two-term governors who left office after eight years included Yar’Adua who later became the President. He was the Katsina State Governor. Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State, now the President.
Victor Attah of Akwa-Ibom State, George Akume who ruled Benue State, Boni Haruna of Adamawa State: Uzor Kalu was in Abia State, Adamu Aliero, Kebbi State, Niger State Governor, Abdulkadir Kure.
He died on January 8, 2017 in Germany at age 60. Peter Odili of Rivers State. He stepped down for the late Yar’Adua in the 2008 People’s Democratic Party’s primary election to pick the standardbearer for the party. Bukar Ibrahim was in the Government House in Yobe State for eight years. Jolly Nyame ran two terms in Taraba State. He, however, later faced charges of corruption and sent to 12 years in prison. He was later granted pardon by Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past president Joshua Dariye was twice elected Governor in Plateau State, but was impeached and later rescued by the court to complete his term in 2007. There was Abdullahi Adamu, who ruled Nasarrawa for eight years. He later became a Senator for 12 year and the National Chairman of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC). He has resigned his office.
Olusegun Osoba, who was the Governor of Ogun State from January 1992 to November 1993 was to later emerge governor again in 1999. He was, however, stopped by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP’s) candidate, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, in 2003 as he lost another bid for office.
Abubakar Audu had as Olusegun Osoba emerged the Governor of Kogi State in 1992. He, however, came back in 1999. In 2003, he was a guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was coasting home to victory in 2015 governorship poll, but was stopped by bleeding ulcer from realising what could be said to be his seond term ambition.
Adamu Aliero completed a two-term in 2007. He became a Senator in 2008 and was made a Minister by President Yar’Adua’s administration.
Aliero, however, quit office after the death of Yar’Adua. In the recent general elections, he won the Kebbi Central Senatorial Seat. Ahmad Yerima came into Government House in Zamfara State. He spent eight years. He was the first Governor in the country to introduce Sharia Law. He told his supporters that he did it to promote Islam. Most people did not, however, agree with him
Bukar Ibrahim just as Chief Osoba and Aliero was a Governor in Yobe in 1992. The military, however, came and ended the democratic rule in November 1993. He was, however, elected Governor again in 1999. He was in office for eight years and later went to the Senate where he represented Yobe East. He was in the Senate till 2019. Attahiru Bafarawa won Sokoto State governorship election in 1999. He won a re-election in 2003. He was later picked up by the EFCC and slammed with charges of misappropriation of funds and illegal sales of shares in government firms. He, was however, discharged and acquitted by a high court in 2018.
Among ex-Governors, who served only one term were Mohammed Lawal. He came into the Kwara Government House in 1999. He, however, lost his re-election in 2003 to Bukola Saraki Lawal who was a member of the All People’s Party (APP), while Saraki was in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Lawal, a former Naval personal, however, died during a brief illness in a London Hospital in November 2006. Chief Adebayo Adefarati contested the Ondo State governorship election on the platform of Alliance for Democracy in 1999 and won. He, however, lost his re-election in 2003. Adefarati died in 2007 at 76. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was in the Anambra State Government House as he won the 1999 governorship election. An associate professor of politics and African studies at the University of New York, the egg head, however, lost his re-election in 2003 as he defected from the PDP to AD.
Mala Kachalla contested the Borno State 1999 governorship election on the platform of the All People’s Party and won. He defected to AD in his preparation for the 2003 governorship poll. He, however, lost to Ali Modusheriff. He died during a brief illness in 2007.
– Tajudeen Adigun
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