Intrigues that caused Oyetola and other governments to lose second-term bids

OLUWAFEMI MORGAN examines former state governors who lost their bid for a second term and some of the factors that may have led to their defeat in the election

Globally, it is a norm for political office holders to seek re-election, and Nigerian politicians are no exception. It's a valid aspiration after all, as long as it doesn't break the law.

In Nigeria, an enviable class of such officer holders are the governors. They are very powerful. Influence, office paraphernalia, and nearly unlimited access to state funds made the office highly lucrative. Thus, the incumbents spare no effort to retain their seats for a second term. However, due to issues such as intra-party crisis, broken promises, sponsorship and outright non-performance, some of them lost their re-election bids.

The recent gubernatorial election in Osun State comes to mind in this regard. State Governor and All-Progressive Congress candidate in the election, Adegboyega Oyetola, lost to Senator Ademola Adeleke of the People's Democratic Party in a hotly contested poll.

Days before the election, former PDP deputy national publicity secretary Diran Odeyemi predicted defeat for the APC, saying the party was divided. He also said that Oyetola had failed to provide adequate security and much-needed infrastructure for the state, especially in the education sector.

Osun as an example

Oyetola will not be the first state governor to lose his second candidacy. Former Governor Bisi Akande of the then Alliance for Democracy lost to Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the PDP in the 2003 poll. The PUNCH reported that Akande blamed to the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for influencing the elections in favor of the PDP candidate. But Oyinlola maintained that Akande lost because he fought with many people, including his deputy, Iyiola Omisore, and sacked many officials, among others.

Although it is largely rare for governors to lose their re-election, given their influence and the enormous resources at their disposal, some of them have suffered this fate between 1999 and today . According to a scholarly article titled "The Quest for a Second Term and the Crisis of Democracy in Nigeria", by Leke Ojo and Olawale Ariyo, consulted by our correspondent, the South West states experienced a wave of change in 2003 when the Alliance for Democracy Governors, Lam Adesina of Oyo State, Bisi Akande of Osun State, Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State, Niyi Adebayo of Ekiti State and Adebayo Adefarati of Ondo State lost in the ballot. Many of them accused Obasanjo of stifling their chances of being re-elected.

Although they lost due to supposed federal power, others like Celestine Omehia (Rivers), Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo), Oserheimen Osunbor (Edo) and a few others lost their second tenure due to electoral dispute, battles with political godfathers, internal party wrangling and governance challenges.

Bindow Jibrilla (Adamawa)

In Adamawa State, former Governor Bindow, an industrialist and PDP member, became governor after defeating APC's Boni Haruna in the 2015 election. He went on to defected to the APC, to secure re-election in 2019, but lost to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP.

Bindow reportedly lost the election because many prominent figures within the APC were working against him. The likes of a former governor, Murtala Nyako; former Federation Government Secretary Babachir Lawal; former military governor of Lagos State, Buba Marwa, were among those who reportedly did not support him, while the senator representing Adamawa Central, Abdulaziz Nyako, considered Bindow at the time to be a loyalist to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, despite his public allegiance to then APC presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired).

Chinwoke Mbadinuju (Anambra)

Mbadinuju was the first Governor of Anambra State under the Fourth Republic. The PDP leader was one of the few governors who did not return to power in 2003. It was reported that he was left out of the contest by the machinations of Obasanjo and his political godfather, Chris Uba. Mbadinuju tried again by defecting to the Alliance for Democracy but he lost to Dr Chris Ngige, then of the PDP. Ngige also failed to secure a bid for a second term in the 2007 elections due to the authoritarian influence of his sponsors. Ngige, now Minister of Labor and Employment, told The PUNCH in 2022 that political godfathers fired him because he refused to “open up” the public treasury to them.

Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi)