Abdullahi Ganduje, All Progressives Congress, APC, National Chairman has tasked state governors and their deputies to maintain cordial relationship toward strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
Mr Ganduje, a former Governor of Kano State, said this when he received members of former APC deputy governors’ forum in Abuja on Monday.
He said that being a deputy governor in Nigeria was most difficult because of sycophants who tried to create confusion and a rift between governors and their deputies.
He said that although deputy governors maybe regarded as spare tyres, they were always needed in times of trouble in states.
“If you don’t need the spare tyre when you are normal, you will need it when you are in trouble.
“There is no doubt the position of the Deputy Governor is the most controversial position in governance, not only in Nigeria, but all over the world,” he said.
This, he said, informed his writing of a book:” Deputising and Governance in Nigeria”.
Mr Ganduje said that the APC under his leadership would look at the possibility of organising a national conference to discuss ways of smoothening relationship between governors and their deputies.
“That is why I decided to write a book, even up till now that problem is still on, in fact, if it persist, we are trying to organise a national conference on the relationship between Governors and their Deputies,” he said.
He said that the book does not only dwell on governors and their deputies, but also on the President and Vice-President, considering what happened between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
He added that he focused on deputising because in every political office and even in other offices, there was always a deputy.
Mr Ganduje, a former Deputy Governor of Kano State before becoming a governor for two-terms thanked the forum for the visit and assured that the APC would attain greater heights under his leadership.
Earlier, Chris Akomas, former Abia deputy governor who led the forum,, said it was to congratulate Ganduje on his emergence as APC national chairman.
He pledged the forum’s loyalty, saying it would work with the national chairman in all areas for the betterment of the country and with the President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration in the interest of all Nigerians.
The forum offered special prayers for Mr Ganduje to succeed in office and for God to protect him and guide him in the assignment ahead.
It also prayed for peace, unity and understanding in the country under the Tinubu-led APC Government.
NAN
