List of Deputy Govs Who Succeeded Their Bosses to Become Governors
In Nigerian politics, the position of deputy governor comes with a lot of prestige, privilege and honour, but only a few have been able to move a step further into becoming the governor of their home state.
Unlock the best of Legit.ng on Pinterest! Subscribe now and get your daily inspiration!
For many deputy governors, their bosses never saw them good enough to take over after understudying them for eight years.
Source: Facebook
However, a few have made it to become governors by sheer providence or good relationships with their bosses.
Legit.ng compiles names of deputies who succeeded their bosses to become governors:
Ibrahim Gaidam
Senator Ibrahim Gaidam was elected deputy governor of Yobe State on May 29, 2007, but was later sworn in as governor on January 26, 2009, after the death of his principal, Mamman Ali, who died of a liver problem in Florida, United States, Premium Times reported.
PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!
Gaidam completed Ali’s tenure and went ahead to win the 2011 and 2015 governorship elections to become the longest-serving governor of the state – 10 years – to date.
Adebayo Alao-Akala
According to TheCable, Adebayo Alao-Akala served as deputy governor to Rasheed Ladoja in Oyo state from May 2003 to January 2006.
He, however, became governor of Oyo state for 11 months after Ladoja was impeached by the state House of Assembly on January 12 2006.
Ladoja returned to power after the Supreme Court overturned his impeachment
Akala contested and won the 2007 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He lost his re-election bid in 2007 to the late Abiola Ajimobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Jonathan was elected deputy governor to Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa state in 1999, BBC reported.
Late Alamieyeseigha was impeached on allegations of corruption on 9 December 2005 after he jumped bail from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman,
Jonathan took over as governor and was nominated two years later as the PDP vice presidential candidate in the 2007 general elections.
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
Abdullahi Ganduje served as deputy governor to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015
He succeeded Kwankwaso and became governor in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Umar Namadi
As reported by Premium Times, Umar Namadi was elected governor of Jigawa state in 2023 under the platform of the ruling APC.
Prior to his emergence as governor, he was the immediate past deputy governor to his predecessor from 2019 to 2023.
The accountant was also the state’s commissioner for finance from 2015 to 2019, where he is credited with designing the austere measures which helped in reducing the cost of governance and borrowing.
Mahmud Shinkafi
The Nation reported that Mahmud Shinkafi of Zamfara State succeeded his boss, former Governor Yerima Sani in 2007 on the All Nigeria Peoples Party slate after serving as deputy governor for 8 years from 1999-2007.
He, however, lost his re-election bid in 2011 after decamping to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2008.
El-Rufai Narrates How Southern Kaduna "elders" humiliated his deputies from their zone
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the immediate former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, has narrated how his former deputies were humiliated by elders from the southern part of the state, who were from their zone.
El-Rufai said in his first tenure in 2015, his deputy, Barbanas Bala, a southern Kaduna Christian, was almost frustrated out of office by some unnamed southern Kaduna elders.
Source: Legit.ng
