In the next six days, year 2023 will come to an end with its intrigues, suspense, dashed hopes and controversies. There is no doubt that the country experienced significant and lasting changes in 2023, profoundly shaping the country’s political, economic and social landscape.
Sunday Sun brings to focus some of the major political events that shaped the year.
The 2023 general election
The 2023 general election was one of the significant events that shaped Nigeria’s political landscape in the year in review. The nation’s political scene was heated up with the general elections. Despite expectations that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC will fall, given the strong emergence of the Obedient group, and a new party taking over power, it was not to be. APC still triumphed and produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Tinubu’s inauguration/Removal of subsidy
The inaugural speech of President Tinubu after he was sworn in on Monday, May 29, at the iconic Eagle Square in Abuja was arguably one of the defining moments that shaped the economic status of Nigeria. Tinubu became famous for declaring the removal of the controversial petrol subsidies, a decision many economists and political enthusiasts believed was long overdue. This decision was unexpected as many criticised President Tinubu, declaring it too soon without putting in place mechanisms, through palliatives to curb the after-effects of the decision. The decision immediately triggered inflation in the price of commodities, transportation and services by over 100 per cent and plunged Nigeria into economic hardship that had never been experienced before.
Peter Obi and The OBIdient Movement
What the ruling All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar, Presidential candidate of the PDP and other critics disregarded as mere social media activism eventually became a full-blown movement that rattled the country, sweeping 12 states, including President Tinubu’s Lagos and the FCT.
The OBIdients brought an unprecedented youthful vigour to Nigeria’s elections.
Although Obi and the Labour Party could only emerge as a second runner-up behind eventual winner APC’s Tinubu and second-placed Atiku of the PDP. Obi’s LP won over 40 National Assembly seats and a gubernatorial seat, including large number of state law makers. Most Nigerians still believe that the LP won the presidential election, despite the Supreme Court ruling.
The G-5 phenomenon
The G-5 members were governors: Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Samuel Ortom (Benue). They were in a running battle with Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate following the party’s presidential primary.
The governors, piqued by the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election won by Atiku Abubakar, had demanded that the then party Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, should step down.
But Atiku Abubakar, and a majority of the party’s leaders refused to heed to wise counsel, insisting that if at all possible, it would happen only after the election.
The G-5 phenomenon escalated the crisis in the PDP, which rattled, and perhaps, nailed the final coffin of the presidential bid of its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Tinubu and the Emilokan phrase
Tinubu (APC) has been largely associated with the now famous Yoruba phrase’ emi lokan’, which means “It is my turn”.
The former Lagos State governor came about the words while campaigning to delegates in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, in the build-up to the APC presidential convention.
At the meeting, Tinubu narrated how his support guaranteed Muhammadu Buhari to become Nigeria’s President after three failed trials. He said he was the next person to become the President of Nigeria, repeating, “It is my turn.”
The emi lokan phrase is an expression that has come to stay in 2023 and will continue to reverberate in a long time.
Tinubu’s CSU certificate controversy
The alleged disparities in the academic records of President Bola Tinubu from the Chicago State University (CSU), Illinois, was a major scandal that threatened the credibility of the nation’s democracy. Tinubu’s archrival, Atiku Abubakar, filed a suit in a US court seeking to obtain the academic records of the president to tender as evidence in a lawsuit seeking his removal at the Supreme Court in Nigeria. Atiku and his legal team had questioned Tinubu’s claim of attendance at the American university as well as the issue of the identity of the real student with the bearer of the name in the certificate he submitted to INEC before the presidential poll. Tinubu, on the other hand, fought back as his legal team tried to impede Atiku’s request for their client’s academic records, describing it as intrusive. Tinubu’s legal attorney said: “Atiku’s request is unduly intrusive because it allows Applicant (Atiku) to conduct a fishing expedition into Intervenor’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.” After weeks of protracted legal battle, a unanimous decision was reached by seven-member justices of the Supreme Court to dismiss all the petitions of Atiku Abubakar, submitting that they lacked merit. It is one Supreme Court decision in recent times that may continue to haunt the credibility of the Apex Court.
Ethnic hostilities against the Igbo in Lagos
The significance of Lagos as Nigeria’s economic hub and socio-cultural melting pot meant that elections in Lagos are expected to be more of a national affair than a Southwestern one. The buildup to the last governorship in Lagos was messier than expected because of Mr Peter Obi, LP’s presidential election victory in the state, which put the incumbent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on his toes. The support Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the LP candidate, enjoyed from celebrities, indigenes and non-indigenes, made it appear like an upset was on the tables. However, the narrative of Lagos as no man’s land was promoted which sparked an ethnic conflict between the Yoruba natives and the Igbo settlers. Investigation carried out by Sunday Sun, revealed that the conflict was promoted by the APC-led government in Lagos state to attract sympathy from their ethnic region. The ethnic tension that was generated made majority of non-Yoruba in the state not to come out to vote as they were afraid of being attacked. The Apex-Igbo leadership group, Ohanaeze- Ndigbo, out rightly condemned what took place in Lagos state during the election.
FG/Labour face-off
After all the marathon meetings between the federal government and organized labour, uncertainty still hover around the nation’s workforce.
Meetings upon meetings held by the concerned stakeholders have yielded nothing concrete as the organized labour seem poised, planning for another massive strike, expected to ground the nation’s workforce.
Naira redesign propaganda
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announced in October last year that it planned to redesign, produce, and circulate new series of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes. The three notes represent the highest denomination of Nigeria’s eight legal tenders.
Following the launch of the new designs on November 23, 2022, by President Muhammadu Buhari, the new currency notes were circulated from December 15 2022, with both the new and existing notes considered legal tender until January 31 2023. The Supreme Court gave further judgment in 2023, making the new naira legal tender status indefinite.
Most Nigerians have expressed worries and disappointment over the scarcity of the new naira notes and the apex bank’s handling of the process. The hardship occasioned by the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes has remained even as year 2023 comes to an end.
Edo crisis (Obaseki vs Shaibu)
The rift between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, was a major political event that rocked the Nigerian dailies. The antecedents of their feud were reported to have escalated when it was rumoured that Shaibu had secretly made his intention known that he would be contesting for the governorship seat of Edo state when Obaseki’s tenure ends in 2024. It was later gathered that Obaseki accused his deputy of planning a coup against him to become the state governor. Obaseki, while addressing some PDP loyalists, disclosed that he began to doubt the loyalty of Shaibu when he was working for another candidate, aside from his, as speaker of the state House of Assembly. The governor said that the claim that there have been moves to impeach him as deputy governor was false. Not minding the position of Obaseki in not supporting his ambition, Shaibu has gone ahead to declare his governorship ambition, insisting that he is the Edo choice.
Rivers crisis (Wike vs Fubara)
This is one of the political feuds that rocked the headlines of all the Nigerian dailies. The immediate past governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike and his successor and god-son, Sim Fubara, were entangled in political acrimony over the tussle for political structure in the oil-rich state. The crisis between both parties burst open when unknown explosives attacked the Rivers state House of Assembly after it was rumoured that there was a plot to impeach Governor Fubara. The relationship between Wike and Fubara had deteriorated due to the threats of impeachment against the governor, with speculations pointing fingers at Wike for being involved in the impeachment agenda. This came after some top officials of the Rivers state assembly loyal to Governor Fubara were removed to solidify the impeachment plot further. Wike, who reacted to the feud in a press briefing, admitted that he was in a political tussle with the incumbent, stating that losing his political base would result in losing his political relevance. He said he remains unaffected by any attempts to tarnish his reputation. Meanwhile, Fubara had tendered a public apology to the residents of Rivers state as he also thanked President Bola Tinubu for his swift intervention in the crisis. But, it is not certain whether Tinubu’s political intervention will finally put an end to the imbroglio.
Culled from The Sun
