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2023 polls: Long-term public office holders seek further stay in power

Over 20yrs and still counting, the story of Fourth Republic long-term public office holders

 

Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, which will clock 24 years on May 29, has witnessed politicians, who have been in power uninterruptedly in the last two decades. Interestingly, a majority of these long-term public office holders have presented themselves for re-election in the forthcoming general polls. FELIX NWANERI reports

 

Electioneering period has always been interesting times in Nigeria and it is no different this year as the country elects new leaders at the federal and state levels. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced dates for the elections.

The presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 25, while governorship and state Assembly elections are billed for March 11. While the presidential election will hold alongside that of the National Assembly, the governorship and states Assembly elections will hold the same day.

According to INEC, 16,164 candidates are contesting for 1,520 elective positions in the elections. A breakdown of the figures shows that 18 persons are running for the office of president and another 18 for the vice presidential slot; 1,101 for 109 senatorial seats and 3,122 for the 360 House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 federal legislative positions.

For the governorship positions in the 28 states, where gubernatorial polls will hold, there are 837 candidates, with another 837 for the 28 deputy governorship positions.

Governorship polls in eight states – Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo – are held off-cycle and not part of the general election.

For states Assembly elections, 10,231 candidates are vying for the 993 seats in the 36 states of the federation.

The electoral commission has also announced that a total of 93.47 million voters are eligible to vote during the polls. Perhaps, the pleasure of occupying the various elective positions must be exquisite given the vast number of politicians, who are running for the 1,520 elective positions.

But as the campaigns continue to gain momentum, with the candidates and their respective parties crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country, canvassing for votes parties, the question many Nigerians are asking is:

What is the attraction in political office, when present national and state leaders have lots of complex problems, including rising insecurity, ailing economy, mounting debt and high unemployment rate, among others, to deal with?

The answer may not be far-fetched as politics is like an addiction, which makes it difficult to stop people from venturing into it. However, there is no doubt that factors pulling people into politics are diverse and some of these factors have common threads.

Becoming a public office holder is financially rewarding as salaries paid to elected office holders and other benefits accruable are often too good to be ignored. This, perhaps, informs why some individuals, who have been within the corridor of power in the last two decades of the present dispensation are still seeking further stay in public office.

Indisputably, some of the elective offices, particularly those of the parliament are not tenured, however, the fact that it is still unfilled dreams after almost 24 years of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, justifies the belief that individuals who have been at the helm of affairs since 1999 have not only over-stayed their welcome but should not continue to recycle themselves

Among those who hold this view, is a renowned professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi.

The former presidential candidate had during the inauguration of the second term of the APC-led Federal Government in 2019, described politicians who spend more than 12 years in public offices as social parasites. His words then: “I despise people who live on politics. I think that people who make a career in life based on politics are doing society a disservice. I have said that nobody should hold public office for more than 12 consecutive years.

You go from a commissioner to the governor, senator; you are a social parasite. “You should come out of your hard work, make a difference for four to eight years and go back to what you do. If it is not like that for you, you are a parasite to society. The characters making it difficult to make progress are social parasites, who call themselves politicians.”

The concern over recycling of politicians, notwithstanding, a majority of those who have spent more than 20 years in public offices have presented themselves again for election.

Rabiu Kwankwaso

Kwankwaso, who leads the popular Kwankwasiya Movement (a political pressure group) enjoyed an unbroken 20 years in public office in the present dispensation until 2019. Before 1999, he represented Madobi Federal Constituency of Kano State in the House of Representatives and served as deputy speaker during the aborted Third Republic.

Kwankwaso was governor of Kano State for eight years (1999-2003 and 2011-2015) in the current Fourth Republic. He was first elected in 1999 on the platform of the PDP, but lost re-election bid in 2003 to Ibrahim Shekarau of the then All Peoples Party (APP). He was, however, appointed as minister of Defence by then President Olusegun Obasanjo. He made another unsuccessful attempt to return to power as governor in 2007.

Again, he was appointed as Presidential Special Envoy to Somalia and Darfur by Obasanjo after the polls. Luck, however, smiled on him in 2011 as he returned to the Kano government house. After serving out his second term in 2015, he headed to the Senate and represented Kano Central Senatorial District. In 2019, he opted out of the general election after he contested and lost the PDP presidential ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

While Kwankwaso has been on sabbatical for four years, he is back  to political scene for the 2023 general election as the presidential candidate of NNPP, a relatively unknown party, which he defected to from the PDP alongside his supporters.

Ifeanyi Okowa

The Delta State governor, who trained as a medical doctor and practiced his profession between 1983 and 1991, before venturing into politics, has been within the corridors of power before the advent of the Fourth Republic. He served as Secretary of Ika Local Government Area in 1991, and upon the creation of Ika North East Local Government Area in the same year, became its pioneer chairman and held the position till 1993.

With the truncation of the Third Republic in 1993, Okowa returned to his medical practice but was back to politics in 1998, following the lift of the ban on politics by the then military government. Since then, he has held several positions at the state and federal levels.

They include commissioners for Agriculture and Natural Resources (1999-2001), Water Resources Development (2001-2003) and Health (2003-2006). In 1996, Okowa vied for the governorship ticket of the PDP, but lost to Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

He, however, led the campaign of the party as Director-General and was appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) after the party won the poll. He resigned from the position to contest for Delta North Senatorial District seat in 2011, an election he won. After a term in the Senate, he was elected as the fourth executive governor of Delta State in 2015 and was re-elected during the 2019 polls.

Okowa would be serving out the constitutionally allowed two terms for governors on May 29, but he may secure another four years in public office if his party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – wins the presidential election.

 

The Delta State governor is the vice presidential candidate of the party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is the standard bearer.

Aminu Tambuwal

The governor of Sokoto State has been on the political scene since the advent of the Fourth Republic. He started his political journey as a Personal Assistant on Legislative Affairs to Senator Abdullahi Wali (1999-2000) who was the Senate Leader at the time.

By 2003, Tambuwal got elected to the House of Representatives to represent Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State.

He went ahead to serve four terms in the Green Chamber under different political platforms – All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), PDP and APC. He capped his 12-year stint in the House of Representatives with the position of speaker, which he held between 2011 and 2015.

After that, he contested and won the governorship of the “Seat of the Caliphate” on the platform of the APC in the 2015 election and against all odds was reelected in 2019 on the platform of the PDP.

As Tambuwal’s second term as governor winds down, his eyes are on the Senate, where he hopes to represent Sokoto South Senatorial District on the platform of the PDP. Having spent an unbroken 24 years in public office, another four years in the Senate if he wins the senatorial election, will make it 28 years, and probably still counting for Tambuwal.

Adamu Aliero

Aliero has equally been on the political scene since 1999. He governed Kebbi State between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the APP and later ANPP. He later defected to PDP and became senator for Kebbi Central from June 5, 2007 to December, 2008. He was appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory on December 17, 2008 by then President Umaru Yar’Adua. He left office on March 17, 2010, when the then Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the cabinet. He returned to the Senate in 2015 and won election to the Red Chamber for a third term in 2019.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, Aliero declared intention to return to the Senate on the platform of the APC but lost the primary election to Governor Atiku Bagudu.

 

But determined to realise his ambition, Aliero, who alleged imposition of candidates during the congresses and the removal of party members perceived to be loyal to him in the hierarchy of the leadership of the party, dumped the APC for the PDP and will be flying its flag in the senatorial election on February 25.

Aliyu Wamakko

A former chairman of Sokoto Local Government Area (1986-1987), Wamakko was elected as deputy governor of Sokoto State in 1999 and held the position till 2006, when he resigned to contest the 2007 governorship election, which he won.

He was re-elected for a second term in the 2011 elections and on completion of his tenure in 2015, contested and won election to represent Sokoto North Senatorial District. He returned to the Senate after winning election in 2019 and is presently the candidate of the APC for Sokoto North in the forthcoming elections. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi By the time the incumbent governor of Enugu State hands over to a successor on May 29, he would have spent 20 years in public office.

He was first elected into the 5th Assembly of the House of Representatives in 2003 to represent Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency. He went on to serve for additional two terms (2007 to 2011 and 2011- 2015). He thereby became the longest serving National Assembly member in Enugu North Senatorial District before he became governor in May 2015.

As it stands, Ugwuanyi is not planning retire from politics after eight years as governor. His next political move is the Senate and he will be flying the PDP flag for Enugu North Senatorial District election.

Seriake Dickson

The former governor Bayelsa State served as chairman of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) in his home state between 1999 and 2000. Afterwards, he was elected National Legal Adviser of the party (2000-2002).

In 2006, Dickson was appointed as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice by the then governor of Bayelsa State, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. He later won election to represent Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State the House of Representatives in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011 for a second term. In February 2012, Dickson was inaugurated as governor of Bayelsa State, having won the state’s gubernatorial poll in November 2011.

He went on to govern the oil-rich state for two terms after which he contested and won the Bayelsa West Senatorial District election. The former governor is contesting the February 25 National Assembly elections for a return to Red Chamber.

Mudashiru Obasa

The Speaker of Lagos State Assembly is presently the longest serving lawmaker in the House. Obasa started his political journey from the local government level in 1999, when he contested and won a councillorship seat in Agege Local Government Area under the platform of the then Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was elected into the State Assembly in 2003 to represent Agege 1 Constituency and since then has been winning elections to represent the constituency in the state legislature. He was elected speaker of the Lagos Assembly in 2015.

Returning to the state Assembly in 2029, he retained the speakership position in the Ninth Assembly. Ahead of the 2023 polls, the belief was that Obasa will run for the Senate, but he was later urged to focus  on a return to the state parliament and he is APC’s standard bearer for the March 11 state Assembly poll.

 

Peter Nwaoboshi

The APC senatorial candidate for Delta North Senatorial District began his career in 1979 as an aide to Samuel Ogbemudia, then governor of the defunct Bendel State. In 1999, he served a political adviser to Governor James Ibori. In 2000, he was appointed Commissioner for Agriculture and Special Duties in Delta State and he served in that position till 2006. In 2008, he was appointed state chairman of PDP in Delta State. He served for a second term between 2012 and 2014, when he resigned to run for the Senate.

He has been in the Senate since 2015 and aspiring to return for a third term on the platform of the APC, having left the PDP in 2021.

Danjuma Goje

The former governor of Gombe State, who is bidding to return to the Senate for the fourth time, served as governor on the platform of the PDP between 2003 and 2011. He had before then served as Minister of State, Power and Steel from 1999 to 2001 under President Obasanjo.

On leaving office in 2011, he headed for the Senate, having won election on the platform of the PDP to represent Gombe Central Senatorial District. He was re-elected in 2015 and 2019 on the platform of APC.

Ibrahim Gaidam

An accountant turned politician, Gaidam worked in several  government agencies in the old Borno State and later Yobe State.

He left the civil service in 1995, when he was appointed as commissioner for Youths and Sports, and later as commissioner of Commerce and Industry. He returned to the civil service, and between 1997 and 2007, served as Director in the State Ministry of Finance and later as permanent secretary in other ministries.

He was elected deputy governor of Yobe State on the platform of the All ANPP) in 2007, but became governor on January 27, 2009, following the death of then Governor Mamman Bello Ali.

After serving out Ali’s term, Gaidam contested and won the 2011 governorship election and was reelected for a second term in the 2015 elections. This means that he spent 10 years as governor by May 29, 2019, when he bowed out.

He contested and won election to represent Yobe East Senatorial District in the 2019 general election and presently on the ballot for a possible return to the Red Chamber for a second term. Kabiru Gaya Senator Kabiru Gaya is contesting the poll to the Senate for the fifth consecutive terrm to represent Kano South Senatorial District.

He has been in the Red Chamber since 2007. Before his election to the apex legislature, Gaya served as governor of Kano State during the aborted Third Republic between 1992 and 1993. His quest to return to Kano government house in 2003, failed as he lost in the governorship election  on the platform of the National Democratic Party (NDP).

Abdul’aziz Yari

Yari began his political career in 1999, when he served as Secretary of the then All Peoples Party (ANPP) in Zamfara State, a position he held till 2003, when he was elected chairman of the party in the state.

 

He later rose to the position of ANPP National Financial Secretary and served in the position till 2007, when he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency (2007-2011). Yarii was elected governor of the north western state in 2011 and was re-elected for a second term in 2015.

Before leaving office in 2019, he contested and won the senatorial election to represent Zamfara West Senatorial District. While his hope of making hope of making it to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly was dashed by the Supreme Court, which nullified all APC primary elections in Zamfara State for the 2019 election, Yari is back to the political turf as the APC candidate for Zamfara West senatorial election.

Sam Egwu

Egwu was governor of Ebonyi State between 1999 and 2007. Before then, he served as commissioner for Education in the state.

In 2008, President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed him Minister of Education, a position he held till April 2010, when he was replaced by Prof. Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa’i. Egwu was former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s choice to become national chairman of the PDP at the party’s 2008 national convention.

He, however, withdrew in favour of the compromise candidate, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, who was chosen as an alternative to him and his main rival for the position, Anyim Pius Anyim. In 2015, he contested and won the senatorial election to represent Ebonyi North Senatorial District on the platform of PDP. He was reelected for a second term in the 2019 elections.

But after eight years as governor and another eight years in the Senate as well as three years as minister (19 years in public office), the former university don has no plans to leave politics. He is seeking a third term in the Senate.

 

Umaru Tanko Al-Makura

For the former governor of Nasarawa State (2011-2019), who presently represents Nasarawa South Senatorial District in the upper legislative chamber, it has been years in politics. In 1980, he became the Youth Leader of defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in old Plateau State.

He was later elected to the Constituent Assembly of 1988-89, where he represented Lafia/Obi Federal Constituency of what is now Nasarawa State.

He also served as state secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in old Plateau State between 1990 and 1992. He was also a founding member of the PDP in 1998 but left the party after losing the primary election for Nasarawa governorship election in 1999. He was elected governor in 2011 on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and reelected on the platform of the APC in 2015.

Al-makura stepped down as governor of Nasarawa State in May 2019 after serving the constitutionally allowed two terms and like most of his counterparts, the next port of call was the Senate. He is again in the race for the Nasarawa South senatorial seat.

Adeola Solomon

The senator representing Lagos West has been in public office since 2003, when he was elected to represent Alimosho State Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly from 2003. He later served another two terms another term (2007 to 2011).

In 2011, he was elected to the federal legislature to represent Alimosho Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the House even as a first time member of the House.

After a term in the Green Chamber, Adeola, contested and won the 2015 senatorial election to represent Lagos West Senatorial District. He was re-elected in the 2019 elections but presently the APC candidate for Ogun West senatorial election.

Chimaroke Nnamani

Nnamani served as governor of Enugu State between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP after which he headed to the Senate (2007-2011). He re-contested for the seat in the 2011 elections, this time on the platform of the People for Democratic Change (PDC), but lost.

He vied for  the same seat again in the 2015 elections and was again defeated. He returned to the PDP in 2017 ahead of the 2019 elections, picked the party’s ticket for Enugu East senatorial seat and won the election to return to the Red Chamber for a second term.

The former governor is also seeking a term in the Senate. Opeyemi Bamidele Bamidele’s foray into politics started in 1992, when he contested the primary election for the House of Representatives ticket to represent Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency of Lagos State on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP) but lost. He later served as Special Assistant on Legal Matters to Senator Bola Tinubu (in the aborted Third Republic).

In 2000, he was appointed Senior Special Assistant on Political and Intergovernmental Relations to the then governor of Lagos State (Tinubu).

He was later appointed as commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development in the Tinubu administration. In April 2011, he was elected as a member of the 7th National Assembly to represent Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1.

He was elected senator in 2015 to represent Ekiti Central Senatorial District of Ekiti state. He returned to Senate for a second term in 2019 and presenting on the ballot for a possible third term.

Abiodun Olujimi

The ace broadcaster joined politics in 1997 as the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct NCPN after which he joined the PDP in 2002. In 2003, she was appointed as Special Assistant to the Executive Governor of Ekiti State.

She later served as commissioner for Works and Infrastructure and Director of Women Affairs. She was elected deputy governor of Ekiti State in 2005. In 2015, she contested for a senatorial seat and won to represent Ekiti South at the National Assembly.

In the 2019 elections, she initially lost her seat to the APC candidate (Dayo Adeyeye) but the State Assembly Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal later declared her winner of the Ekiti South senatorial poll. She is the race for a return to Red Chamber for a third term.

Enyinnaya Abaribe

Abaribe was elected as deputy governor of Abia State in 1999 but resigned on March 7, 2003 after which he contested the 2023 governorship election on the platform of the ANPP but lost. He was, however, elected to the Senate in 2007 on the platform of the PDP) to represent Abia South Senatorial District.

 

He is presently a four-term senator, having won re-elections in 2011, 2015 and 2019. He is seeking a return to the Red Chamber for the fifth term on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) after his failed bid for the PDP governorship ticket.

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