The immediate past Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu, has faulted the role assigned to Deputy Governors in the country’s Constitution, saying that it contributes to the friction that often exist between some governors and their ambitious deputies.

Speaking in an interview in Awka, Sibeudu said that deputy governors serve more as spare tyres to their governors without playing any major role in governance.

He however, noted that deputy governors who properly understand what the law provides for them never have any friction with their bosses as they always wait to be assigned a role at their discretion.

Citing himself as an example, Sibeudu said that because he read the Constitution properly on assumption of duty and saw that it was the governor that was fully in charge, he had to remain totally loyal and performed duties assigned to him by the governor.

The former Deputy Governor, who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state however, argued that since the governor and his deputy were elected on one ticket, there ought to be more constitutional provisions for the deputy governors to keep the two busy while in office.

According to him, some governors don’t even allow their deputies to preside over the boundary and economic matters, which are more or less statutory for the deputy governors, because the Constitution did not explicitly assign the roles to the deputy governors.

Sibeudu observed that the last national conference took adequate care of the anomalies and called for its full implementation to correct the shortcomings in the constitution, especially as the national assembly was already reviewing the Nigerian Constitution.

On the protracted boundary dispute between Anambra and Kogi states, the former Deputy Governor recalled that the committee, of which he represented Anambra as chairman, had almost reached the level of final resolution of the boundary dispute before he left office.

In his words; “After several peace meetings, the two states had almost concluded the matter and the only thing remaining was putting in place permanent monuments along the borders of the states.

“I am surprised the dispute is rearing its ugly head again, maybe because Anambra was investing in its area of control with the building of the Orient Petroleum Refinery at Aguleri Otu in Anambra East Local Government Area of the state,” he said.

While stressing that geological surveys conducted in the area showed that there were crude oil deposits in both states, he urged each of the states to develop their oil resources without disrupting the peace in their border communities.

Sibeudu also commended Governor Willie Obiano for continuing with the projects initiated by his predecessor, describing the present administration in the state as having performed creditably in delivering dividends of democracy to the people in the three senatorial zones of the state.

He expressed delight at the governor’s performance saying that his good works have guaranteed his reelection even while calling on the people of Anambra State to continue to support him.

•Photo shows the Nigerian Constitution.

Update news