It’s almost the end of the 2010’s and there’s been enough gist in Nigerian politics within this era to keep us intrigued, from the political scandals to the rumors and even the feuds.
Therefore, we’ve decided to jog your memory of the disagreement and grudges that have occurred in the Nigerian government before this decade wraps up. So here’s a list of some of them, from the old to the new:
1) Obasanjo vs Atiku (2003-2018):
We’re not exactly sure what started this grudge but we know it started long before this decade and it got former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, promising that he would never endorse Atiku Abubakar for presidency in Nigeria.
This remained a thing until 2018 when Obasanjo saw the light somehow and decided to forgive his former VP because, according to him, Atiku was remorseful about his old ways. I guess trying to get Buhari out was bigger than any old disagreement.
2) Dino Melaye vs Everyone (2010-present):
Who hasn’t Dino offended or picked a fight with? From his political party defection, which caused a rift between him and many of his former APC members, to his fallout with Yahaya Bello, Kogi State Governor and let’s not forget his very public declaration that he would love to beat and possibly impregnate Senator Remi Tinubu.
Dino has been known to put his foot in his mouth one too many times, this in turn gets him on the wrong side of many people.
3) APC vs PDP (2013-present):
Even though the All Progressives Congress political party is just 6 years old many Nigerians think of it as an old party, possibly because it is an amalgamation of former political parties (who still remembers ACN?).
Considering the combined strength and countless party switching during that time, it is no wonder that APC refuses to let PDP be, especially now that it is the ruling party.
The People’s Democratic Party is arguably one of the oldest political party in Nigeria and one of the strongest (forget all that story about the multi-party system you learnt in school) but it seems to have met its match in APC.
4) Buhari vs Nigerians (2015-present):
Daddy Bubu stormed into the presidency in 2015, displeasing many Nigerians with a number of his policies, from the devaluation of the Naira, to cutting off forex access to people schooling abroad, removing fuel subsidy and a whole lot more.
There’s also been a lot of push-back from Nigerians over things Buhari’s government planned to establish this year. Remember RUGA program and the hate speech bill? Yeah those.
5) Ambode vs Tinubu (2018):
Somehow Akinwunmi Ambode, former Governor of Lagos State, stepped on the tail of a ‘lion’ and learnt the hard way that the lion’s roar is scarier than he thought. For some reason, Ambode was rumored to have offended quite a lot of people and he got his ass bit because of it.
Apparently, this led to his fallout with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who declared Ambode a person non grata because, according to him, Ambode was not a team player and needed to be reprimanded for it. Which is why Ambode lost his second term as governor to Babajide Sanwo Olu who became APC’s choice for the Lagos governorship instead of him.
6) Atiku vs Buhari (2019):
Remember this video clip of Atiku crying when he got the nomination form from his party? If only he knew he was going to cry foul few months down the line when Buhari got elected again to the disbelieve of many Nigerians.
What’s more? Atiku was made to feel insignificant with the way his case was thrown out of court, added with President Buhari’s gloating.
7) Emir of Kano vs Governor Ganduje (2019):
Abudullahi Umar Ganduje, Governor of Kano, dislikes the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and is doing everything within his power to show his displeasure. He’s been trying to belittle the power that the Kano monarch has by creating four other emirates that would ultimately reduce the influence of the Emir.
The power tussle was so fierce that even President Buhari, Aliko Dangote and Kayode Fayemi had to intervene, to calm the waters. That worked, for a while, until Ganduje reared his head again and allegedly attempted to dethrone Emir Sanusi,
Why does Ganduje hate Emir Sanusi so much? Well, he believes that the monarch was badmouthing him which was why he almost lost the election for his second term as governor, so he came back with a vengeance and doesn’t care whether the court dissolves his newly formed emirates or not. He’s out for blood, and he wants Sanusi’s.
8) Wike vs Rivers State Monarchs (2019):
Nyesom Wike, Rivers State Governor, really came for the monarchs in his state in his ongoing tenure. According to him, they are the reason behind cultism in Rivers and the best way to curtail it is to cut off the head, hence dethroning the monarchs who aid and abet cultists.
9) Oyegun vs Oshiomole (2019):
Okay, nobody really knows why these two have it out for each other but it might be because John Odigie-Oyegun, Oshomole’s predecessor, called Adams Oshomole –APC Chairman– to order over the way he’s been handling Godwin Obaseki, the current Edo State Governor.
10) Buhari vs Osinbajo (2019):
This feud has left us guessing. There’s been a lot of hearsays from both parties and quite a lot of cloaked underground happenings that often leave Nigerians dazed and wondering wtf is actually going on, since nobody will tell us anything.
However, they’ve been some red flags that spotlights this issue. Like when President Buhari subtly kicked his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, to the curb by setting up an Economic Advisory Council, without informing Osinbajo who had a similar committee already in place. There was also that one time, recently, when Buhari sacked Osinbajo’s aides (35 of them) without his consent.
There’s been several reports that a “cabal” seeks to undermine Osinbajo’s authority. Despite the rumours, mud slinging and counter accusations that have been made we still don’t know what’s going on in Aso Rock, so na to siddon look we dey so.
Know more feuds that we didn’t mention? Drop a comment below and show us the light!
