Political career
Pre-speakership and early career
Binabo began his political career in the Sagbama Local Council. [4]
Later,Binabo was elected to the Bayelsa State Assembly,and served as deputy speaker and the State Commissioner of Youths and Conflict Resolution. [5] [6] [7] He also served as acting speaker. [8]
Speakership (2010–2012)
Binabo was elected speaker in July 2010,after his predecessor,Werinipre Seibarugo,was appointed deputy governor following the impeachment and removal of Peremobowei Ebebi. [1] [9] Binabo himself was initially floated as a candidate for the position. [7] [10] During his tenure,he drew controversy for allegedly supporting a plan to fire 500 government workers. [11] In 2011,he was put on trial for allegedly failing to disclose that he was terminated from a position at Rivers State Ministry of Education and forging certificates presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission,which would have disqualified him from public office. [12] [13] He was found innocent in October. [12]
Acting governorship (January–February 2012)
He was made acting Governor of Bayelsa on 27 January 2012,after Timipre Sylva,along with four other governors nationwide,was removed by the Supreme Court. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] During his brief tenure as acting governor,he fired several members of Sylva's cabinet,and threatened legal action against Chevron following a high-profile oil spill. [19] [20] [21] He left office on 14 February 2012,and was succeeded by Henry Dickson of the People's Democratic Party. [14] [17] He subsequently resigned the speakership,citing the fact that both he and Dickson hail from the same senatorial district. [2] He was succeeded by Kombowei Benson. [2]
Post-speakership (2012–present)
In June 2012,after Benson was impeached and removed from the speakership by a majority of the Assembly,Binabo successfully nominated his own former deputy speaker,Fini Angaye,to fill the vacant slot. [22]
Split from PDP and joining APC (2015)
He was expelled from the People's Democratic Party in May 2015 due to alleged anti-party activities in the 2015 general election. [23] He,along with several dozen other PDP chieftains,formally defected to the All Progressives Congress in August 2015. [24] In the years since,he took on increasingly anti-PDP political positions. [25] [26]
APC years (2015–2023)
In November 2015,in a speech in Yenagoa,he accused then-governor and former ally Henry Dickson of threatening to assassinate him over a local political rivalry. Dickson and the PDP denied all accusations and characterized them as lies. [4]
As of May 2018,he was the leader of one of the two major factions of the Bayelsa APC. The leader of the other major faction was Timipre Sylva. [27]
He was one of several prominent Bayelsa State APC politicians who endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari's 2019 reelection bid. [28] [29]
He died on 29 June 2023. [30] Former president Goodluck Jonathan and governor of Bayelsa State Douye Diri sent their condolences through their spokespersons. [31] [32] [33] [34]
Personal life
Binabo hailed from Okunbiri,Sagbama. [4] [35] Before entering politics,he worked for the Rivers State Ministry of Education as a teacher. [36] He was fired in 1987 for indiscipline,which later became a scandal in his political career. [37]
In March 2008,Binabo's 22-year-old son,Oyeinmomoemi Binabo,was abducted from campus at Niger Delta University. He escaped by running along the banks of the River Nun approximately 24 hours after the initial kidnapping. [6] Several months later,Oyeinmomoemi Binabo was killed in a hit and run car accident. [38]
Binabo's office at the Assembly was burgled in September 2011. Money and several valuables were stolen. [39]
On 29 June 2015,Nestor Binabo's wife,Martha Binabo,was kidnapped from her workplace by unidentified gunmen in military uniforms. [17] She was released,unharmed,in Rivers State on 5 July after a ransom was paid. [40] She was released with a bag of fish and a N18,000 transport fare. [41] Reportedly,the kidnappers told her to prepare pepper soup for her husband with the fish. [41] [42]
Binabo survived being physically attacked or assaulted at least three times,including a home invasion resulting in a fatality in 2010. [43] [8] [44] He died after a lengthy illness on 29 June 2023,in Abuja. [30]
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