To this end, the deadline for submitting application files is set for Friday, May 7.
The customary consultations for the designation of the new lamido will take place on May 10 within the lamidat. This is the quintessence of a press release signed on May 6, 2021, by the Divisional Officer of Bénoué Division of North region, Oumarou Haman Wabi.
The press release is addressed to potential candidates for the succession of Alim Garga Hayatou, who died on April 5, as well as customary notabilities and populations. To this end, the deadline for submitting applications is May 7.
Among the candidates is Issa Hayatou, former president of the African Football Confederation and brother of the late lamido. If we stick to the decree of July 15, 1977, “in the event of a vacancy in a chiefdom, the administrative authority shall immediately carry out the necessary consultations with a view to the appointment of a new chief“.
In this specific case, these consultations concern more the 12 notables (the 13th having died) constituting the electoral college.
The decree indicates that the progress of the consultations is recorded in the minutes signed by the chairman of the meeting. Namely the prefect who transmits it hierarchically to the competent authorities. It will be up to the Prime Minister to formalize the designation of the new lamido.
But more than the supervision of the process by the administrative authorities, the government has always maneuvered behind the scenes to pass the candidate of its choice. As in 2000 when Alim Garga Hayatou was elected.
A witness at the time recalls that the governor entered the chiefdom with the notables. Then he announced on his release that the choice was made on Alim Garga Hayatou. In 1971, his predecessor, Ibrahim Abbo, had only settled on the throne of this 1st degree chiefdom by the sole will of the then President of the Republic, Ahmadou Ahidjo, a native of the northern regional capital.
