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ABSTRACT
The office of the Deputy Governor and the Vice President has in modern times in Nigeria been receded to just functioning for ceremonial purposes. At the command of the constitution the office of the deputy governor and vice president is established, at the command of the executive Governor or President as the case may be, the office of the deputy governor or vice presidency is given its assignment or function. If there is no command received from their above principal, that is the president or the executive governor there is no function for them as deputies, they become redundant. Their offices are constitutionally protected as a governor cannot exist without a deputy governor also a president cannot exist without a vice president the constitution guarantees that. But the constitution fails to provide roles for these offices. They are then left to the fate of their principals, and when their principal is someone who is devious, wicked and cruel they treat their deputies that way leading to bitter disputes and conflicts which eventually lead to the removal of the deputy via impeachment proceedings or a total disarming or dismantling of the engine of the office of the deputy governor or vice president making them ineffective if they cannot be chased away. Now these are individuals who were elected on a joint ticket with their principals, they end up being treated like outcasts. This has become the usual occurrence as we have witnessed in Abia state where Dr Enyinnaya Abaribe as deputy governor had a running battle with his principal Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, Abaribe had on two occasions tried to be removed by the state house of assembly, on the third attempt the deputy governor tendered his resignation letter but legislators still impeached him. Travel down to Lagos state in where Senator Kofoworola Buknor Akerele was deputy governor of Lagos state during 1999-2002 all through she had a running battle with her principal Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu now president of Nigeria. Tinubu had during that period as governor kept his deputy out of decision making, running of the government and party activities. On several occasions the governor had handed over to anyone but his deputy to act in his absence, in the process of time Buknor-Akerele resigned from her position as deputy governor. Presently in Edo state, the state of affairs between the deputy governor and the governor has been soiled. Comrade Philip Shaibu the deputy governor of Edo state and his principal Governor Godwin Obaseki has become very bitter and toxic with the governor, Obaseki refusing to even shake hands with the deputy governor in public, the deputy governor was locked out of the state house with his convoy and has been treated as an outcast by the governor. In the presidency you could see the frosty relationship between Vice President Atiku Abubakar and President Olusegun Obasanjo which ended up in court, we could go on and on. Now there has been criticism that this conflict of interest between deputy governors and their principals has existed and continued because of our nation’s constitution, Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999. The constitutions did not make provision for specific roles for the office of the deputy governor and vice-president. The only solution then to this imbroglio is a constitutional amendment, stating the roles and responsibilities of a deputy governor or a vice-president. This constitutional amendment should be deliberate, clearly affirmed and backed by law.
