Constitutional Lawyer, Akugbe Osayande, has noted that states in Nigeria might not need the office of the Deputy Governor.
The lawyer was making reference to the Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Aminu Alkali, who has been out of public view for over eight months due to a serious health condition.
DAILY POST reports that Alkali was elected alongside Governor Agbu Kefas in 2023.
He was said to have fallen ill late last year and was initially treated at the National Hospital in Abuja before being flown to Egypt as his condition deteriorated.
Since then, he has not made any public appearance.
And there are growing constitutional concerns about the Deputy Governor’s continued stay in office despite being unable to carry out his official duties.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News, Osayande noted that the continued absence of Akali might be an eye-opener for Nigerians that the states could function perfectly without the office of the deputy governor.
“Ordinarily, when you look at the Constitution, the Constitution talks of incapacitation. And I try to check what is incapacitation, the interpretation law, unfortunately did not define when a person has that permanent incapacity.
“Because that is ordinarily where we would have run to say the definitional legal instrument for Nigeria. So it leaves the whole thing open,” he said.
“The state executive council that is to take any action are appointees of the governor. They don’t even agree that the deputy governor’s condition is critical.
“So they said he is recovering, recovering for how many months…?
“With the Taraba State Deputy Governor absent for 8 months, we need to ask if we really need that office,” he said.
“With all the state funds going into that office and the fact that a deputy governor can be absent for up to 8 months, and the state doesn’t feel a vacuum, do we really need a deputy governor?” He queried.
