It has been a year of fight-to-finish for politicians with ambition as well as political parties seeking to wrest or retain power in Africa’s most populous country.
Here are 10 political thrills, in no particular order, that watered the ground, whetted Nigerians’ appetite, and aroused political consciousness ahead of next year’s general election.
Tinubu’s ‘Emi l’okan’
By mid-2022, the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, was among the ruling All Progressives Congress presidential aspirants jostling to win the party’s ticket and succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), in 2023. As politicians are wont to do, Tinubu set the tone for the 2023 politicking by declaring that it was his turn to become Nigeria’s next president after Buhari.
Speaking on June 2, 2022, at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Tinubu said, ‘emi l’okan’ which is loosely translated in the Yoruba language as, ‘It is my turn’.
He said, “It is my time, I’m educated, I’m experienced. I have been serving people for a long time. Bring me the presidency, it is my turn.” After his declaration, many analysts predicted that Tinubu’s ‘outburst’ in Ogun might jeopardise his presidential ambition, which he tagged a ‘lifelong ambition’.
But Tinubu went on to win the party’s ticket after polling 1,271 votes. Former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, polled 316 votes to come second while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo garnered 235 votes to come third.
Wike vs Atiku, Ayu and PDP
Nigerians witnessed the ‘influence’ of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, after the former minister lost the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential ticket to the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, in May 2022.
Atiku won the primary by 371 votes to defeat Wike who polled 237 votes, while a former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, scored 70 votes.
But following Atiku’s announcement of Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate, Wike and his camp in the PDP demanded the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, from his position.
With the continued refusal of Ayu to step down from his position, the Rivers governor took time to open several Pandora boxes and took Ayu and the PDP leadership to the cleaners.
PDP G5 governors
Following the fallout of PDP members after its presidential primary, Wike and other governors of the main ruling party formed what is now known as the PDP G5 governors. Other members of the group are Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).
The governors have been meeting within and outside the country on the current crisis rocking the PDP. While peace moves have been made in the past by the party and its presidential candidate, the crisis has remained unresolved.
Osinbajo, Amaechi, Lawan’s dashed presidential hopes
Osinbajo, Amaechi, and Lawan tried their luck to clinch the APC presidential ticket but lost to Tinubu. Many political analysts and opinion leaders believed that the Vice President shouldn’t have contested against his erstwhile boss and political godfather.
Although other aspirants stepped down for Tinubu, those who refused to step down, contested and lost include Amaechi, Osinbajo, Lawan, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Mr Tein Jack-Rich.
Also, there were reports that the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, allegedly tried to impose Lawan as the ruling party’s consensus candidate, but a quick intervention and announcement by the Northern APC governors led by Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State cleared the path for Tinubu to coast to victory. But many claim that Osibanjo, Amaechi, and Lawan’s ambitions ‘relegated’ the trio to the political back seat in the scheme of things in the APC.
Peter Obi and ‘Obidient’ Movement
Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, emerged as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in May 2022. Before then, Obi, who was a presidential aspirant under the PDP, resigned from the main opposition party and also withdrew from the presidential race on the platform of the party on May 25.
He announced his resignation in a letter titled, “Resignation From PDP and Withdrawal from the Presidential Contest” addressed to the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, dated May 24. Obi, in the letter, attributed the decision to recent developments within the PDP. Obi was the party’s running mate to Atiku in the 2015 presidential election. Until his resignation, Obi was one of the 15 aspirants vying for the presidential ticket of the PDP.
But after his emergence as the LP flagbearer, the former Anambra governor has been enjoying massive support from young Nigerians, who termed themselves as ‘Obidients’, across social media platforms. This group of supporters has engaged in several campaigns both online and offline in their bid to achieve the Obi/Datti presidency in 2023.
Aregbesola and Tinubu’s fallout
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, in February, accused his erstwhile political leader and boss, Tinubu, of foisting the immediate past Osun State governor, Gboyega Oyetola, on the people against popular will.
Aregbesola, who was governor of Osun State from 2010 to 2018, declared that enough was enough for leaders who equated themselves to the status of a god. The 64-year-old minister said he trusted Tinubu, but the latter repaid him with betrayal.
Aregbesola, who leads an APC faction in Osun, engaged in a feud with his successor, Oyetola, accused the incumbent governor of not consolidating on his eight-year achievements. The crisis between Aregbesola and Oyetola became public knowledge after the minister opposed the governor’s second-term bid. He said Oyetola should be given the same treatment that former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was given in Lagos State.
Dancing Senator crushes Oyetola’s second-term dream
The then PDP’s governorship candidate and sitting Osun governor, Ademola Adeleke, had in July 2022 dashed the hope of incumbent governor and APC flag bearer, Gboyega Oyetola, during the state’s governorship election.
Adeleke got a total of 403,371 votes, beating Oyetola who garnered 375,027 votes in the keenly contested race. In the election held across 3,763 units in the 30 local government areas in Osun, the PDP won 17 of the LGAs, while the APC recorded more votes in the remaining 13.
It is worthy of mention that Adeleke’s nephew, award-winning Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, played a major role in the latter’s victory.
Ike Ekeweremadu’s alleged organ harvest saga
The Specialist Crime Team of the Metropolitan Police in London in June arrested a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice. They were arrested for alleged conspiracy to harvest the organs of a child. The senator’s daughter needed an organ transplant.
Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested at Heathrow Airport in London en route to Istanbul in Turkey. While Beatrice has been released, Ekweremadu is currently facing a legal battle in the UK. If convicted, the lawmaker may get a maximum of a life sentence or 12 months imprisonment or a fine, or both on summary conviction under the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act 2015.
2022 Electoral Act
President Buhari signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 into law in February. This law shaped the political landscape as the Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act bars political appointees from voting or contesting at party congresses.
The Act forced many political appointees to resign to contest their party primaries, while others jettisoned their political ambition to remain in office.
Jonathan, Emefiele’s rumoured presidential ambitions
During the build-up to the 2022 political parties’ primary elections, there were several reports that former President Goodluck Jonathan, and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, were eyeing to replace Buhari under the APC platform.
Jonathan’s backers in the APC moved to field the ex-President as the APC’s consensus presidential candidate after a Fulani group obtained the APC’s N100m presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for the former President.
Following the Electoral Act, Emefiele had through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, also applied for an order of status quo ante bellum to be made against INEC and the AGF so that he would not be made to resign from office until 30 days before the 2023 general election.
The plaintiff in an ex-parte application had also denied being a political appointee but a public servant not caught by Section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act 2022.
The CBN governor asked the court to invoke Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution to bar the defendants from asking him to vacate office until 30 days before the February 2023 presidential election.
