2014 was always going to be a defining year politically, and surely it was. It was a year of dirty deals, tough decisions and suave political undercuts, ahead of the home stretch of the 2015 general elections.

The highlights of the year span parties’ national conventions, acrimonious party primaries, high-powered defections, political endorsements and protests against the use of state security forces to intimidate political opponents. There was also the politics of the insurgency war in the northeast, where blames were traded between the ruling and opposition parties, while President Goodluck Jonathan and his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, had a sparring match over the state of affairs in the country.

 

Tukur resigns, Mu’azu, Oyegun Emerge PDP, APC National Chairmen

There was no better way of kicking off the political firesworks than with the resignation of the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bamanga Tukur on 15 January 2014. The lid over the simmering face-off between Tukur and the PDP governors blew off, resulting in what was later reported as a forced resignation by Tukur, who had declared that he would not resign because only the party’s convention could remove him.

However, the party, on January 20, settled for Dr Adamu Mu’azu, a former governor of Bauchi State as national chairman of the party. The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), the second most powerful organ of the party, adopted Mu’azu pending the ratification by the national convention, the highest decision-making body of the party. His emergence as consensus candidate followed series of meetings between President Goodluck Jonathan, governors elected on the platform of the party and other party bigwigs.

Six months later, former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, emerged national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 14th of June. Having merged last year, the APC in June assembled delegates at its first national convention in Abuja and elected Oyegun by consensus, despite initial stiff opposition from his kinsman, Tom Ikimi who was not seen at the venue of the convention. This was after two other aspirants for the chairmanship position, Chief Sam Jaja and Timipire Sylva agreed to back down, thus leaving Oyegun and Ikimi to contest.

 

Ex-CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi Named New Emir Of Kano

Following a fallout with the presidency over raising an alarm over missing funds from the oil revenue, former Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was against objections by hawks in the presidency, named the 14th Emir of Kano. With the circumstances surrounding his ascension clouded in an intense political atmosphere, Sanusi’s appointment, which was formally announced at the ante chamber of the Kano Government House by secretary to the state government, Rabiu Bichi, took immediate effect.

 

Defections

The defections which happened this year weren’t so much as unexpected as they underscored the ease with which politicians switch camps for self preservation and continued patronage. Miffed with the outcome of the national convention which produced the APC national chairman, former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a crucial member of the merger process, Chief Tom Ikimi, crossed over to the PDP.

Not long afterwards, another former chieftain of the APC, a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, moved to the PDP, citing irreconcilable differences with the APC. He had been in the opposition to the PDP for most part of the political journey since 1999.

Former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, also left the APC, moving to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He cited a demand by his supporters to do so having been relegated, upon the defection of the incumbent governor, Aliyu Wammako, from PDP to APC. Former Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, a staunch opposition figure in the state and integral member of the APC merger, also defected to the PDP noting, “The Legacy Group sacrificed all interests for the merger, but for the past six months all agreements reached have not been met.”

Former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, however waited till after he left office to switch from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the ruling PDP, a move which outrightly subsumed him politically, sapping away whatever influence he had which hitherto stretched to the presidency. In Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko also defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the PDP, which expectedly sparked off some rumbles and eventual settlements.

This year also, former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, formally resigned from the PDP and joined the APC, having frolicked with the leadership of the opposition party after he saw that his political ambitions could not be achieved in the PDP.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in a mother of all defections, abandoned the PDP for the APC, which left in its trail a heated debate over whether or not he should forfeit his seat as stated in the constitution.

Governorship Elections

Two governorship elections were held in Ekiti and Osun states respectively. These elections were the first true test of the popularity between the two major political parties, PDP and APC. While Governor Ayo Fayose of the PDP defeated the then serving governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in Ekiti State, incumbent governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola of the APC defeated former deputy governor and PDP candidate, Iyiola Omisore, in Osun State. A governorship election that was supposed to hold in Adamawa State on account of state governor, Murtala Nyako’s impeachment was stopped following a court ruling.

 

National Conference

Another issue that defined the political scene in 2014 was the national dialogue, which held between March and August. President Goodluck Jonathan constituted a 494 delegation that participated at the National Conference, under the leadership of former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Idris Kutigi.

While the modalities for the conference were being sorted, the APC rejected it completely, describing it as diversionary. President Jonathan’s plan to turn in the decisions of the conference to the National Assembly also generated heat. But the confab faced more criticisms due to the suspicion that it could be used to prolong the president’s tenure.

However, while the conference started on a shaky note, the series of meetings the Confab chairman, Idris Kutigi, held with zonal leaders in the course of the exercise, paid off as the delegates agreed on a position on the controversial draft constitution.

The confab ended with a minor amendment to the third volume of the confab report by replacing the draft constitution to read “Resolutions of the conference as draft amendments to 1999 constitution.

The amendments to the third volume was moved by Maina Waziri. Richard Akinjide moved the motion for the adoption of the confab report. The motion was seconded by Yadomah Mandara.

In all, over 600 resolutions; some dealing with issues of law, issues of policy and issues of constitutional amendments were reached. The magnitude of their work was reflected in a Report and Annexures of 22 volumes of approximately 10,335 (ten thousand, three hundred and thirty-five) pages.

 

Rancorous Primaries And Ministerial Loses

In preparation for the elections next year, political parties held primaries for elective offices, based on the guidelines and timetable provided by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While the APC had a relatively calmer post primaries crisis, the PDP had a more intense post primaries crisis.

Also, of all the former ministers who had resigned to contest the governorship elections, only two-Nyesom Wike and Darius Ishyaku- were able to emerge candidates of their party. However, for Adamawa, Taraba, Borno and Yobe States, party primaries were held in Abuja on grounds of ensuring safety of the process.

 

Gale of Impeachments and Near Misses

This year also saw the removal of some elected government officers, prominent of which was former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako. While he was impeached over charges of abuse of office, some analysts believe that his removal was influenced by Abuja over his allegation that the president was sponsoring the insurgency in the northeast region. Moreover, Nyako had defected alongside four other governors to the APC. Governor, Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa), Adams Oshiomole (Edo), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) also survived impeachment moves.

In Enugu State, the deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi was ruthlessly kicked out of office by his boss, Sullivan Chime ostensibly for rearing poultry in his residence. However, Onyenuchi’s removal was not unconnected to his cosy relationship with politicians seen to be in the opposing camp of the governor. The speakers of the Ebonyi and Ekiti States Houses of Assembly were impeached in circumstances linking their governors to the plot.

 

Court Cases

There were also court cases that helped to define the political landscape. The eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 election was put to the test at the courts this year. Also, a federal high court in Abuja struck out a case instituted by the PDP seeking to sack five of its governors that defected to the APC.

The national chairman of the PDP, Adamu Mu’azu however survived a move to sack him from office in court, over the manner of his emergence as chairman of the party. Immediate past national chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur was involved in the case filed by another PDP member. Upon squashing of the case, Tukur was slammed by the party for engaging in perceived anti-party activity.

 

The Obasanjo/Jonathan Rift

The back and forth between former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan which manifested last year continued this year. Obasanjo made scathing remarks on the performance of his estranged godson, which the presidency replied to.

The former president also released his no-holds-bared memoir titled “My Watch” . It is a narrative of some events while he was in office, which detailed some critical and uncomplimentary remarks on some prominent Nigerians, including his former vice president, Atiku Abubakar.

 

INEC’s PVCs and CVR

The electoral commission, ahead of 2015 general elections, commenced the distribution of the Permanent Voters Card and the Continuous Voters Registration exercises. While the commission carried out the electoral exercises in phases across the 36 states, it has been criticised for not meeting the logistics demands, as voters have complained of not being able to access their cards or get registered.

 

The Embarrassment at National Assembly

The National Assembly complex in Abuja was thrown into chaos as the police and other security agents battled unsuccessfully to stop House of Representatives speaker, Aminu Tambuwal from entering the chamber.

Efforts by the speaker to enter the complex were resisted by security forces, mainly the police, led by acting police commissioner, Wilson Inalegwu.

The policemen were in combat gear and fully armed. With them were hooded Department of State Service (DSS) personnel.

Lawmakers removed their shoes and climbed the iron fence to make their way inside the chamber. Teargas fumes choked the environment, drawing tears from the lawmakers’ eyes. Many were shouting and screaming.

In anger, the lawmakers launched an impeachment battle against President Goodluck Jonathan.

By evening, no fewer than 130 of them —there are 360 members in the House— had signed a register to back the Jonathan-must-go move. Efforts by the speaker to enter the complex was resisted by security forces, mainly the police, led by acting police commissioner, Wilson Inalegwu.

The policemen were in combat gear and fully armed. With them were hooded Department of State Service (DSS) personnel.

 

Buhari Vs Jonathan

President Jonathan and former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari emerged presidential candidates of the PDP and APC respectively at the national conventions of both parties which held the same day, but in different cities of Abuja and Lagos respectively. Jonathan, who going into the PDP convention was the sole candidate, merely had an affirmation vote; while Buhari defeated governors of Kano and Imo States, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Rochas Okorocha, alongside Atiku Abubakar and chairman of Leadership Group, Sam Nda-Isaiah.

Jonathan stuck with his vice president, Namadi Sambo as running mate for the election. Buhari after days of deliberations and horse-trading picked former attorney general of Lagos State, Yomi Osinbajo, as running mate.


http://leadership.ng/news/396533/political-events-shaped-2014

$20billion developing wings like an eagle!

God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

Increase in confusion amongst Nigerians with regards to political news we get daily concerning the happenings in the country.

Dannylux:
Increase in confusion amongst Nigerians with regards to political news we get daily concerning the happenings in the country.

Whats your point actually...?

LMAyedun:
Whats your point actually...?

Major events you said. Aren't a lot of people confused than ever in Nigerian politics?