Nigeria: Travails of Deputy Governors

23 March 2013
editorial

The plight of the deputy governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso, brings to the fore, once again, the issue of the powers and functions of a deputy governor. Going by the current Nigerian constitution, a deputy governor is a mere appendage of the governor.

But the same constitution makes it clear that the "governor will be deemed to have been nominated if he has a candidate as his associate for his running as governor" who will function as his deputy. What this means, legally speaking, is that the nomination of a governor is not constitutionally recognised until there is a deputy by his side. Curiously, the same constitution is silent on what that deputy ought to be doing by the side of the governor beyond running errands for him and waiting for him to die or be impeached.

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