As politicians warm up for 2015 general elections, no fewer than ten second term governors are known to be nursing senatorial ambitions. While a few of them have stated point blank that they want to contest the senatorial election scheduled for February 14, 2015, others are giving the impression that they are being prodded by their people to go to the red chamber of the National Assembly.
The governors who overtly or covertly have indicated interest in the National Assembly next year include: Governors Godswill Akpabio, Theodore Orji, Martins Elechi, Sullivan Chime, Emmanuel Udu­aghan and Gabriel Suswan of
Akwa Ibom, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Delta and Benue states respectively. Others speculated to be interested in the Senate seat are Isa Yuguda, Bauchi; Ibrahim Shema, Kastina and Rotimi Ameachi, Rivers.
So far, only Akpabio and Suswan have given indications that they will be contest­ing the senatorial election.  As far back as December 2012, the Akwa Ibom governor had said that his people hd asked him to con­test to represent them in the Senate in 2015 and that he has accepted.
He was quoted to have said: “By the grace of God, I will see myself as a Senator in 2015. My people have approached me and told me not to retire politically. They said I should go and become a Senator and I have accepted their request.”The Benue State governor confirmed his ambition in a recent interview in which he attributed the case against him over alleged certificate forgery as a ploy to scuttle his 2015 politics project.
Apart from the duo, it has been a case of one group or the other in the states of the affected governors urging them to contest for a seat in the red chamber of the National Assembly.
But in Nigeria, when a politician wants to occupy a particular elective office, he gets some group of persons to sing his praise and request him to contest for that office. Thereafter, the concerned politician indi­cates interest in that position, citing pressure from his people as his reason for wanting to contest for the office. Analysts believe that is exactly what is playing out with some of the governors, who have their eyes on the Senate in 2015.A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Ebonyi State, Chief Henry Ude told Daily Sun in an interview that  Governor Elechi has never told anybody that he wants to contest the senatorial election. However, he said should the governor decide to take a shot at the senatorial seat, he is sure of victory.
“He never told anyone that he is interested in running for the Senate. But if he indicates interest to run, who won’t vote for him after all his achievements as governor except that person has a pact with the devil,” Ude noted.But one question that agitates the mind is-what exactly is the mission of these gover­nors in the twilight of the tenure to the upper chamber of the nation’s legislature? While the governors, many of whom claim that their people are prodding them to contest the elec­tion, say they want to continue to serve their people in the Senate, critical observers think otherwise. A school of thought believes that the governors are propelled by a selfish desire to continue to be part of government.  This school of thought argues that most of the gov­ernors, having been in office for eight years and dictating the pace of the politics in their respective states, would not want a situation where by they will suddenly become onlook­ers in the politics of their state, hence the desire to proceed to the National Assembly, so as to remain relevant politically.
Another school of thought does not see anything wrong with former governors contesting elections into the Senate. This school of thought argues that with their experience, former governors can contribute meaningfully to the legislature.
However, one of the charges against the governors is that most of them who ended up in the Senate are not adding value to the system.Since the inception of the Fourth Republic, it has become a tradition for most second term governors to contest for a senatorial seat. While a few of them have acquitted themselves very well, the majority of them are seemingly resting in the Red Chamber.
Presently, there are 11 former governors serving in the present Senate.  They include: George Akume (Benue North-west); Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central); Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara North); Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa Central) and Joshua Dariye (Plateau Central). Others are Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe East); Ahmed Markarfi (Kaduna North); Chris Ngige (Anambra Central); Ahmed Sani (Zamfara West) and Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and Kabiru Gaya, Kano;Apart from these former  governors in the  present Senate, other of their colleagues who had served in the Senate after their second  tenure are Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State and  Taminu Turaki of Jigawa,
Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ahmadu Ali  thinks governors going to the Senate are going there to seek refuge.
He told  a national newspaper  recently that the governors’ ambition would  deprive experienced senators of the opportunities of continuing in the National Assembly.
“The Senate is becoming a haven for gov­ernors looking for where to hide their head, to escape EFCC and that is actually what they are doing. They are not contributing anything better than the ordinary people who came there,” Ali reportedly stated.
He added: “where they can be useful if they are so sure of themselves is in the presidency, but they are not thinking that way, they want to run to the Senate and cause disequilibrium in the system because when they do that, they do not allow a senator with enormous experience to horn his appetite for a higher office; So, that is something that needs to be subtly discouraged.”
But  the National Chairman, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Okey Nwosu says  it would be a good develop­ment if governors with good antecedents get elected into the Senate, especially as some of those in the Red chamber are not making valuable contribution to the country.
In an interview with Daily Sun, he stated: “We have people in the National Assembly who don’t do anything but business. But with governors who have good antecedents, if they get elected, it will be a good development. I don’t have anything against them.”
He said it is not enough for anybody to say that the former governors who have gone to the National Assembly are not adding value to the legislature. The ADC leader said such claims should be backed up with empirical evidence. “It has to be proved. There have to be studies to prove that, then the people will know better not to vote for them,” Nwosu stated.Expectedly, the senatorial ambitions of the governors are generating tension across  the concerned states, especially in those states where the incumbent senators are interested in returning to the Senate in 2015.
For instance, Akpabio’s declaration for the Senate has pitched him against the incumbent senator representing his zone, Aloysius Etuk. The once chummy relationship of the duo went sour.Just like in Akwa Ibom, the Enugu State governor is slugging it out with the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Both aspirants hail from the same Enugu West senatorial district. Since Chime started mak­ing covert moves to replace the Deputy Sen­ate President in the Senate, the state chapter of the PDP has known no peace.
A former PDP governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Dr Alex Obiogbolu said there is nothing wrong in governors going to the Senate, provided they emerge in a free and fair contest, without using their positions and influence in the state to muzzle opponents at both the primary and main elections.
“It is a healthy development, if it is a free and fair process, devoid of intimidation and abuse of office. It is expected that such people have experience.”But that is exactly the fear in several quarters that there can never be a level playing field, especially at the party level . Analysts argue that in as much as the governors remain inter­ested in contesting the elections, nobody can stand between them and their ambitions when it comes to getting the party’s ticket. The reason is not far-fetched. As leaders of their political parties in the state, the governors usually determine who gets party nomination. In fact, in most cases, the senators the gover­nors are seeking to replace were installed by them in the first place.
Therefore, it is taken for granted that once the governors declare their intention for the Senate or another position in the state, they are likely to emerge as candidates. This state of affairs notwithstanding, former PDP National Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade said he is not losing sleep over Governor Suswan’s senatorial ambition.  Ge­made, who currently represents Benue North East senatorial district, the same zone the Benue governor is aspiring for, is warming up to re-contest in 2015.
He told journalists in a recent interview that “ I don’t want to say much about it. ..I will make comment when he comes to contest.”
But apparently allaying fears that he would use his office as governor to gain an undue advantage over other contestants, Suswam in a recent interview posited that anybody is free to contest the senatorial seat.
He said: “if anybody is contesting, he is free to do so. We have somebody who is a senator now,  and who obviously wants to re-contest.  I am not muzzling anybody. In other places, governors are muzzling those who are out to contest. I am not doing that. I am not even exchanging words with anybody.”
source: Sun News