I came to know about Femi Pedro during his days as the Chief Executive Officer of First Atlantic Bank. He became endeared to me when because of his foresightedness his bank was adjudged the best in IT readiness and awareness. I was pleased when Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the incumbent Governor of Lagos State, after falling apart with his erstwhile deputy, Koforola Bucknor - Akerele, chose Pedro to be his new deputy. But I knew that politics especially in Africa could be a dirty game, and I had wished him well believing that unlike her female predecessor, he will survive the Alausa-Ikeja politics.

I knew beforehand just like most Lagosians would claim that Femi Pedro would one day aspire to be the governor of his state. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with such an aspiration provided that one satisfies the constitutional requirements.

Before the political intrigues of the 2007 elections thickened, not much was heard of him and I had assumed that his relationship with his boss was at its best. Though one would have expected him to run under the umbrella of the Action Congress, it remains only known to Governor Tinubu and the AC hierarchy, why he didn’t and why Babatunde Fashola did. But this however, tells the discerning mind that all might not be well between the Lagos State number two citizen and the first citizen.

Unlike Okechukwu Itanyi , his Enugu counterpart, who buried his gubernatorial ambition when his Governor made it clear that Sullivan Chime, and not him-Itanyi would succeed him, Otunba Pedro went ahead to get the Labour’s Party mandate to vie for the office of the governor of Lagos state. Despite his strong corporate connections, it was certain that the man on ground in Lagos politics was Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It was then not too much of a surprise when his favored candidate, Babatunde Fashola won the April 14 elections despite the PDP’s desperate moves to capture the state. The result nonetheless was rejected by Pedro and other Lagos guber aspirants who felt cheated by the election process and its outcome. But what Pedro and Co did was to exercise their freedom of expression rights which is one of the basic tenets of democracy.

Few days after, the call for the impeachment of the Lagos Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro began for alleged grave misconducts. And the Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Ade Alabi on May 7, set up a seven-man committee to probe the said allegations. As it is unconfirmed of what Pedro’s original sins could have been, so it is difficult to dissociate it with the events that occurred before and after the April 14 polls.

But Pedro was prepared to outsmart the Lagos legislators and preempting what the outcome of such a panel would be, he decided to resign from his office and tendered his resignation letter through his lawyers. But he was rebuffed and his letter denied acceptance by both the Office of the Governor and that of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly. Resignation as Lagos parliamentarians would now want us to believe was not for Pedro, but impeachment. He must be impeached. And the legislators on May 10, 2007 impeached Otunba Femi Pedro on grounds of grave misconduct, insubordination and betrayal of trust and confidence.

By going ahead to impeach the Lagos State Deputy Governor, even when he has resigned in that capacity makes the Lagos assembly men some sort of strange breeds. They have through their actions stated that there is more to the feud between the deputy governor and his boss. Their actions have also stated that the deputy governor or anyone else does not have the free will to resign even when such a person wants to do so. More so, the last minute impeachment has portrayed the lawmakers as people in a hurry to close the political chapter of Femi Pedro, a new entrant to the game. But unknowingly, the assembly men may now have told us why Pedro’s resignation letter was rejected and denied recognition at appropriate quarters.

Pedro’s impeachment has however thrown up a legal tussle between the Lagos lawmakers and the indefatigable Lagos Lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, lawyer to the impeached deputy governor who has maintained that the impeachment was nothing short of an exercise in futility and holds no water since the deputy governor had resigned before the impeachment. When eventually the matter gets to the Court, sundry issues would beg to be clarified. Nigerians would want to know the implications of such a voluntary resignation from office and in such a situation who becomes the proper authority to entertain the resignation. And what happens if the authority fails to accord the resignation its due honor. The learned gentlemen would also debate on the legitimacy of the impeachment since it was preceded by Pedro’s resignation.

Most impeachments witnessed in this fourth republic have been successfully quashed by the Law Courts. Pedro would now hope that his, should be treated the same way at least to maintain a clean record should he decides to re-launch his political career sometime in the future. But the Lagos legislators who saw impeachment as the only option and a must-execute-option for Femi Pedro have done their intent.

As the fourth republic winds up, and the fifth  about to commence, it would be in the best interest of the nation to rehearse or amend the way deputy governors are selected or chosen. In the last eight years, most deputy governors have not really had it easy with their governors, they are either being accused of disloyalty or said to be over ambitious. And such political quarrels often derail the governing process. But the deputy governors themselves must learn how to operate within the precincts of their office and be mindful of their actions.

Chukwudi Okeke writes from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Robot  # 1 | 12.05.2007 09:12

var sbtitle5876=encodeURIComponent(Femi Pedro:...Read the full article.

Mikky jaga  # 2 | 12.05.2007 13:36

Pedro resigned, and so what? Has the Governor accepted the resignation? If you tender your letter of resignation and your boss has not accepted same, what that means is that you are still occupying your position. That is common sense. I believe the law does not negate common sense. Pedro is better advised to keep his money and stop chasing shadows. Gani would only be glad to pursue the case from one court to the other until after all the expenses, he comes to face the stark reality that he has become a former Deputy Governor who has no right to any right or privilege after office. Pedro gambled! And every gambler knows that: The secret of survival is knowing when to cut your losses and run. He may decide to nurture the Labour Party in the State to a winning party in the future. Or he may just quietly drop out of politics as suddenly as he entered it. Deputy Governors, until the constitution is changed, should only be visible when their bosses are not around. That is the only way to avoid Governor - Deputy squabbles in the future.

umuahia  # 3 | 13.05.2007 14:47

the folowing truths are inarguable. 1)pedro is more educated and more exposed than tinubu. 2)while tinubu is a pro in stealing,pedro is a trained thief-catcher. 3)tinubu underrated pedro's efficacy, which is a blunder on his fact. 4)pedro is a very close ally of nuhu ribadu, which saved tinubu and lagos state of the adamawa and plateau states scenario.tinubu,with all his mouth would have been a goner. 5)tinubu admitted in his last press release that he invited pedro to head the economic development of lagos state.all the so-called economic transformation including information technology services,considerable level of accountability and increased revenues of lagos state which tinubu parades about was pedro's vision.infact,tinubu would not have had any money to steal.a clear case of monkey they work,baboon dey chop? 6)pedro has an untainted records till date unlike tinubu ranging from his educational,family,financial and work records.tinubu's group are very good at fishing out one's past which they are quick to use but pedro has been untouchable. 7)it is an open truth that pedro strives to keep a relationship,AC or not.thats why he is loved by all and sundry.in particular, obasanjo is a strong pedro's admirer.do you know how many times obasanjo and pdp has approached pedro to shift base from AC to PDP?pedro sticking by his boss.tinubu will be too cowardiy at this juncture to admit how many times pedro had covered his tracks ,refusing to grant his friend ribadu from having access to vital documents that would have nailed tinubu to the galows. 8)pedro is not a lousy spender but an accountable one at that,whom AC politicians see as stiff as against the owanbe tinubu.it is unusual in this part of the world that after 4years,tinubu could not find anything incriminating against pedro.that man must be noble.his, is a rear one. 9)pedro is a christian while fashola/tinubu are moslems.there is an unwritten constitution playing out in lagos that only moslems shall be governors. 10)pedro is a humble, obedient and faithful subordinate which many times leaders of today do not appreciate. 11)tinubu is a shylock person to have claimed that he never promised pedro succession but just to deputise for him by adding value to his regime.it is an opportunist mindedness or what you can call use and dump.who else in the world is better positioned in to carry on ones vision if not the man closest. 12)tinubu was the man that first, was serving the shots through the media and at campaign rallies in order to discredit pedro. 13)the truth is that at meeting,tinubu was strongly advised against choosing pedro in view of the above mentioned qualities,by the eagles called politicians, who enjoy eating up the state treasury. unfortunately, the once upon a time good boy has turned out to be the achille's heel of tinubu. with the evidence in pedro's hands, even 10million alfas/imams,100million pastors and 1billion juju men will not save tinubu from going to jail.why wouldnt he want to kill pedro?it is an open truth that tinubu is a cowboy but unfortunately, pedro may choose not to be one, does not make him stupid. tinubu put your house in order because you are going to jail.

Mikky jaga  # 4 | 15.05.2007 07:02

Let Pedro produce his eveidence. It will be to his credit if he can help to catch one of the "thieves" that Nigeria has been looking for. When Tinubu eventually lands in jail, we will remember Umuahia told us so here first. Thank you