The Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria has called on the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, to amend the party’s constitution to allow ex-deputy governors to attend meetings of the APC National Executive Committee.
A 60-member delegation of the group made the appeal on Monday when they visited Ganduje at the APC national headquarters in Abuja.
While decrying their omission from the list of dignitaries that turned up for the NEC meeting at Transcorp Hilton two weeks ago, the chairman of the forum, Chris Akomas, said the ex-deputy governors have a massive following in Nigerian politics.
Addressing journalists, the former deputy governor of Imo State said, “Our own interest should be protected. If there is a political party where you have made contributions and you are not carried along when the body takes critical decisions…We repeat that we take the exclusion as an omission. You captured Speakers and Deputy Speakers but left out people that served and represented the whole state; people who carry the structures of a state! It is not good either for the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria or for the political party or for effective governance. This is because the effectiveness of governance has to do with bringing in cross-fertilisation of ideas. As we said, within the forum of deputy governors, there are expertise, experience, knowledge and professionalism. That has to be done across the board.”
Reacting to their concern, Ganduje promised to look into the issue, saying he understood their plight, having served as a deputy governor under his former boss-turned-political adversary, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in Kano.
“The position of a deputy governor is a controversial one in governance. That’s why God has no deputy. The APC, as a political party, is interested in what happens in government. It’s a two-way thing. We get information from the government and pass it to the people, just as we receive complaints from the people and pass it to the government.
“Everybody is a servant. It is a no-go area. Deputy governors are being seen as a spare tyre. And we all know the importance of a spare tyre. If you don’t need it when you are normal, you will need it when you are in trouble.
“Another problem deputy governors will have to contend with is the issue of sycophancy. When you are walking with a governor and walk side by side to hear him when he talks, sycophants will say you are rubbish and all that. If you respect your principal by walking behind, sycophants will say you are developing a lukewarm attitude. Now, tell me, which position will you take? It is difficult,” he said.
