Legal luminaries have disagreed over the tenure of the Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi and that of his deputy, Mr. Tele Ikuru.
Amaechi was sworn in on October 25, 2007 following a Supreme Court verdict annulling the election of Celestine Omehia, who had been inaugurated as governor on May 29, 2007.
The deputy governor was first sworn in on May 29 as a deputy to Omehia before he was picked by Amaechi as deputy following the Supreme Court�s nullification of Omehia�s election.
Citing the case involving the Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, many had argued that Amaechi�s tenure would begin the day he was sworn in, and not May 29.
But speaking on the issue, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said the tenure of Ikuru started the day he was first sworn in as deputy governor with Omehia.
He said Amaechi should have explored better legal advice before picking Ikuru as his deputy.
�Under the constitution, you cannot be a governor except you pick somebody as your own running mate. The constitution is so clear on it. What I think Amaechi should have done would have been for him to send the name of his own deputy governor to the state House of Assembly for ratification.
�[The office of] a deputy governor is a constitutional provision. It is a position created by the constitution. You don�t just do it by a mere announcement that you are going to continue with the deputy of the man who was removed.
�I don�t think it is neat. In fact, it is not tidy. What he would have done, if he had sought the advice of his counsel, would have been for him to pick his own deputy and send the name to the House of Assembly for ratification. And if he had wanted to continue with the same deputy he would have still sent that name to the House of Assembly. It is not tidy,� Olanipekun said.
Jadesola Akande (SAN) said the situation in Anambra and Rivers were not the same and as such the tenure of both the governor and the deputy would end on May 29, the day Omehia was sworn in.
She said, �The case involving the Rivers State Governor is different from that of Peter Obi. It is not similar at all, because they are still within the tenure of the election petition period. Since the election petition has not ended, any decisions that are given now are resoluble to May 29 when the term of the executive expires.�
But the President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, said, �What the verdict of the Supreme Court means is that both the governor and his deputy were not in office at the time they claimed they were. A ticket is not complete unless there is a governor and a deputy. So, since the election of the governor was annulled, it automatically annulled that of the deputy governor [also].
�What we have is a clean start. So, the tenure of the Rivers State governor started the day Amaechi was sworn in. The tenure cannot be back to the time Omehia was sworn in. Certainly not.�