As 2023 comes to a close, Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI captures some of the political intrigues, suspense and controversies that shaped the year. Being an election year, 2023 was eventful politically. It was dominated mainly by the events leading to the general election and the echoes of the election. In January, the country was on the verge of a decisive electoral contest in which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was expected to face a tough battle to remain in power after the tenure of the then-incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. The following are the highlights of what took place during the year.
Protests over naira scarcity:
Towards the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced a policy of withdrawing the old N200, N500 and N1,000 naira notes in circulation and replacing them with new ones.
The authorities said redesigning the naira was meant to curb crimes, counterfeiting and corruption, as well as the recall of excess cash stashed away back into the banking system. The situation was worsened by the gradual withdrawal of the old notes when the new ones were yet to circulate; making business transactions difficult.
Though many Nigerians were in support of the policy, its poor implementation brought untold hardships to the citizens, as the shortage of currency notes in circulation brought businesses to a halt across the country.
The authorities at the time did not indicate that the policy was meant to curb vote-buying during the general election. But, the timing suggests that that was the major reason; the old notes were to cease to be legal tenders less than a month before the general election.
January 31 was initially designated as the deadline for the old notes to cease to be legal tender. But, the CBN was compelled to announce a 10-day extension from January 31 for citizens to have access to the new naira notes. Ahead of the designated February 10 deadline for the old redesigned currency notes to cease to be legal tender, there were protests in several states across the country over the scarcity of the new notes on February 4. This snowballed into violence in some states, as angry mobs vandalized banks and gas stations.
Nigerians were also subjected to scarcity of fuel due to a disruption in the product distribution chain caused by the activities of cross-border smugglers. So, the scarcity of naira notes compounded their woes. Many citizens were compelled to resort to the black market to get cash for their daily transactions. Pressure was brought to bear on former President Buhari to address the nation. He called for calm and said he had met with officials to resolve the problem in a lasting manner. After a series of extensions, the deadline has since been made indefinite.
Three-horse presidential race:
On February 25, Nigerians headed to the polls to elect a new president and their representatives at the National Assembly. They were at their respective polling units as early as 7.00 am on February 25, undeterred by long queues and delays to vote for the presidential and National Assembly candidates of their choice. As many as 93.4 million eligible Nigerians registered to vote, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But only 24.9 million persons or 26.72 per cent of the registered voters voted on February 25.
There were four frontrunners among the 18 presidential candidates. They are Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP); Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP); and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). At the end of the day, Tinubu won the fiercely contested election with about 8.79 million votes. Atiku who garnered 6.98 million votes was his closest challenger, while Obi came third with 6.1 million votes.
Similarly, the breakdown of results released by INEC, following the February 25 election, indicated that the APC remains the majority party in the National Assembly, after winning 57 out of the 109 seats in the Senate and 162 out of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives. The PDP secured 28 seats in the Senate, while the LP got six. In the House of Representatives, the PDP won 102 seats, while the LP secured 34 seats.
The governorship and state assembly elections were to have been held on Saturday, March 11 but were later shifted to March 18 by INEC. This was to ensure that there was adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines used for the presidential and National Assembly elections and then to reconfigure them for the governorship and state assembly elections.
Out of the 36 states of the federation, eight states — Osun, Ekiti, Kogi, Bayelsa, Anambra, Edo, Ondo and Imo — have off-season governorship polls. Against this background, there were elections in the remaining 28 states. The 28 states are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.
The APC secured 16 states during the election, and the PDP 10, while the LP and the NNPP won one state each. There was a major upset in Zamfara, as the then incumbent Governor Bello Matawalle lost the election to the PDP’s Dauda Lawal. The APC also lost Kano and Plateau to the PDP. Conversely, the main opposition party also lost Benue to the APC.
Nevertheless, some of the victories declared by INEC during the March 8 election have been reversed by the lower courts. However, some of them are still subject to the final judicial ratification by the Supreme Court.
Seamless transition:
Following his victory during the February 25 presidential elections, President Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, to take up the mantle of political leadership for the next four years. Former President Buhari has since retired to his hometown, Daura, Katsina State.
The inaugural speech of President Tinubu was arguably one of the defining moments that shaped the economy in 2023. Tinubu defied all odds when he declared the removal of petrol subsidies during his inaugural address; a decision many believe was long overdue.
A similar handover ceremony took place in the 28 states where governorship elections took place during the year.
10th Assembly inauguration:
The 10th National Assembly was also inaugurated with its new set of leaders on June 13. Senator Godswill Akpabio who represents Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District emerged as Senate president, while Barau Jibrin who represents Kano South Senatorial District emerged as his deputy.
At the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas who represents Zaria Federal Constituency in Kaduna State also secured his election as the 10th speaker of the chamber, while Benjamin Kalu who represents Bende Federal Constituency in Abia State emerged as deputy speaker.
Wike vs Fubara crisis:
Wike and his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara have been entangled in a duel over the control of the political structure of the PDP in the oil-rich state. The crisis came to public knowledge when some suspected arsonists threw explosives into the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, destroying a part of the complex. The incident came in the wake of alleged moves by a group of lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara. The relationship between Wike and Fubara had deteriorated due to the threats of impeachment against the governor, with many speculators pointing fingers at Wike as the mastermind of the impeachment plot.
All the parties to the crisis have been enjoined to sheath their swords, with President Tinubu’s intervention.
Tension over off-cycle polls:
Wike and his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara have been entangled in a duel over the control of the political structure of the PDP in the oil-rich state. The crisis came to public knowledge when some suspected arsonists threw explosives into the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, destroying a part of the complex. The incident came in the wake of alleged moves by a group of lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara. The relationship between Wike and Fubara had deteriorated due to the threats of impeachment against the governor, with many speculators pointing fingers at Wike as the mastermind of the impeachment plot.
All the parties to the crisis have been enjoined to sheath their swords, with President Tinubu’s intervention.
Obaseki, Shaibu crisis:
The relationship between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu also deteriorated during the year over the latter’s interest in contesting next year’s off-cycle governorship election in the state.
Obaseki indicated, while addressing some PDP loyalists, that he began to doubt Shaibu’s loyalty when he chose to work for another candidate, aside from his, for the position of the speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. The governor said the claim by Shaibu that there have been moves to impeach him as deputy governor was false and that he would not talk much about it since the matter is in court.
Though the conflict is no longer making headlines, Shaibu, it is said, remains adamant over his intention to contest the PDP primary scheduled to be held on September 21. As a result, the governor and his deputy have been engaged in a cold war over the matter.
There were off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states on November 11, which generated a lot of tension. But, at the end of the day, the incumbency factor decided the outcome, as the APC retained Kogi and Imo, just as the PDP remained in control in Bayelsa.
In Bayelsa, the incumbent Governor Douye Diri (PDP) who faced former Governor Timipre Sylva of the APC secured his re-election with ease. Sylva was initially disqualified by a court ruling (on October 10) from contesting in the election because he had been sworn in twice and had served for five years as governor. But he appealed and won the case. As a result, his name was restored to the list of contestants. Udengmobofa Eradiri was the LP flag bearer in Bayelsa.
Of the three off-cycle elections, Kogi was expected to be the toughest because incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello was not on the list of contestants; he is concluding his second term and not qualified to contest again. But, the APC candidate, Usman Ododo, scaled through the hurdle with 446, 237 votes. He defeated Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who came second with 259,052 votes. PDP’s Dino Melaye scored a paltry 46,362 votes.
In Imo, as widely predicted, Governor Hope Uzodimma of the APC was re-elected for the next four years, according to the results announced by INEC. Though 18 candidates participated in the election, it was a three-horse race; the two other major contenders were PDP’s Samuel Anyanwu and the LP’s Athan Achonu. However, the PDP and LP have rejected the result; the parties described the election as a sham.
Still on election dispute:
After almost nine months, the dust raised by the 2023 general elections is yet to settle. The results of some governorship and legislative elections are still being challenged in courts across the country.
Aiyedatiwa assumes power in Ondo:
Ondo State had been in the news for the wrong reasons for several months. After surviving attempts to impeach him, former Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa was on Wednesday 27th December, 2023 sworn in as the substantive governor, following the passing away of his erstwhile principal, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
Aiyedatiwa had been declared the acting governor on December 13, after the late Akeredolu transmitted a notification of his medical leave to the state House of Assembly.
Akeredolu had been absent from the state since June on health grounds. Even after he returned to the country in the first week of September, following his three-month medical leave in Germany, he had opted to remain in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. His absence from the state generated political crisis.
It took the intervention of President Tinubu to settle the matter. The crisis is not unconnected with the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary coming up early next year.
By RAYMOND MORDI
