Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the November 16 gubernatorial election in Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, has said that if the country’s laws are amended, it will help in quelling issues arising from the roles of deputy governors often called “spare tyres”.
“The National Assembly should do something about that, spell it out and define the constitutional roles for the office of the deputy governor and the vice-presidential office,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, admitting that the law limits the deputy governor.
“That is the office, you can only function at the discretion of your principal and he assigns roles to you. If he feels like he does not want to play with you, that’s fine. But I think we should amend that aspect and give them a constitutional role to make them more relevant because it is a joint ticket.”
Since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, the country’s political terrain has witnessed chaos between governors and their deputies. Relationships between governors and their deputies have often assumed frosty dimensions.
Several deputies have fallen out with their principals who often accused them of usurpation. Some deputies were even replaced by the governors before the end of their tenures.
But Agboola has promised to redefine the relationship between governors and their deputies if he wins the Ondo governorship election.
“If become the governor of Ondo State, I am going to do a different thing. Keep my deputy governor busy. Let people see him as part of the government,” he said.
“Everywhere crises here and there [between governor and deputy] and we must address that issue.”
“If I am a governor, I will strengthen that office and make it very effective,” he said, dismissing fears of usurpation.
