2023: Political Dynasties Gear For Battle

2023: Political Dynasties Gear For Battle

Our correspondent reports on the continued domination of governance in Nigeria by political dynasties, despite the belief that their existence is against democratic values since they do not provide equal opportunities for people to hold top public offices

Politics and governance in Nigeria has become affairs of members of a few families, who sit side-by-side to deliberate on important legislations and policies that affect the country’s over 200 million people. No doubt, political dynasties have thrived even in advanced democracies such as the United States (U.S.) despite the fact that the country’s founding fathers objected to power flowing through blood rather than the ballot, which explains why they declared in the country’s constitution that “no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.” However, it has often been contended that political dynasties go against the values upheld by democracy since they do not provide equal opportunities for people to hold offices of power. Nigeria has seen the rise of a number of political dynasties over the years.

They include the Yar’Aduas, Ojukwus, Nwodos, Adedibus, Obasanjos, Akinjides, Shinkafis, Sarakis, Tinubus, Okorochas, Ubas, Igbinedions and Abiolas. Most of these families have moved from being state or regional power houses to national prominence. The patriarch of the Yar’Aduas of Katsina State, Musa Yar’Adua, was a teacher, who later served as Minister of Lagos Affairs between 1957 and 1966 during Nigeria’s First Republic. His son, Shehu, who enlisted in the army in 1962 as part of Course 5 intake of the Nigerian Military Training School, later became Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters under the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo. He held the position between 1977 and 1979.

He earlier served as Transport Minister in the General Murtala Mohammad’s regime. On retiring from the army, Musa Yar’Adua joined politics. He formed the Peoples Front of Nigeria, which had the likes Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Ango Abdullahi, Yahaya Kwande and Rabiu Kwankwaso as members. The organisation later merged with other groups to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which he sought its presidential ticket in 1992. He was leading the race for the party’s nomination before the process was cancelled. The presidential ambition, which General Yar’Adua was unable to realise was achieved by his younger brother, Umaru, in 2007.

He was elected president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007. He had earlier served as governor of Katsina State between 1999 and 2007. Death, however, cut short his reign on May 5, 2010 after a protracted illness. He was succeeded by his vice, Goodluck Jonathan, who later appointed General Yar’Adua’s son, Murtala, as Minister of State for Defence.

The Nwodo political dynasty, perhaps, ranks among the greatest so far in Nigeria’s politics. The family has produced numerous political office holders, including a governor, ministers, legislators and a national chairman of a political party, among several others.

The patriarch of the Nwodo family was Igwe J.U. Nwodo, a traditional ruler who served as Minister of Commerce as well as that of Local Government in the then Eastern Region. Three of his sons also toed his political path. The eldest of the trio, Joe was a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate, while Okwesilieze, who became governor of Enugu State in the Third Republic, later served as the first National Secretary of the and subsequently as and the party’s national chairman. Another of the Nwodos, Nnia, was Minister of Aviation in the Second Republic as well as Minister of Information during the regime of General Abdusalami Abubakar. He is the immediate past President-General of apex Igbo body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Another political dynasty that is synonymous among Nigerians is that of the Obasanjos. This dynasty has produced a head of state and president as well as a commissioner and senator. It also had one of its members as a presidential candidate at a time.

The patriarch of the dynasty, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was head of state between 1976 and 1979 and president between 1999 and 2007. His daughter, Iyabo, served as Commissioner for Health in Ogun State before she was elected as Senator for Ogun Central Senatorial District in 2007. She ran for reelection in 2011, but her bid to return to the Red Chamber failed.

Another of the Obasanjos, Mojisola (an ex-wife of the former president), who is a retired major of the army is also a key political player. She founded the Masses Movement of Nigeria in 1998 and later ran for the presidency on its platform in 2003, interestingly against her husband. She also contested the 2007 presidential election, the only female on the ballot. The Sarakis, who hail from Kwara State in North Central Nigeria, are like the Kennedys of the U.S.

Their patriarch, Olusola Saraki (1933-2012), first entered politics, when he contested the 1964 parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent candidate but lost. He returned to politics in 1979 and was elected senator on the platform of the NPN and became Senate Leader. He was re-elected in 1983. In 1998, Saraki became a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Peoples Party (APP), contributing to the party’s success in Kwara and Kogi states. He assisted Mohammed Lawal to become governor of Kwara State.

He later switched allegiance to the PDP and in the 2003 elections, supported his son, Bukola, to emerge as governor of Kwara State, while his daughter, Gbemisola, was elected senator for Kwara Central. His plan for Gbemisola to succeed Bukola as governor in 2011 did not materialize as his son’s choice, Abdulfatah Ahmed, won the election.

Besides upstaging his father, the younger Saraki got elected into the Senate and was re-elected in 2015 on the platform of the APC, when he became president of the Eighth Senate. He later returned to the PDP and contested for the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 elections but lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

For the Abiolas, may be, theirs would have been one of Nigeria’s largest political dynasties if not for circumstances that cut short Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential ambition. The late business mogul won the June 12 1993 presidential election that was annulled by the then military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, and the man, who would have been president between 1993 and 1998 and or beyond, died on July 7, 1998, in the custody of the Federal Government. That was four years after he was arrested and detained by the then head of state, General Sani Abacha, for daring to declare himself President-elect.

However, his harrowing experience did not deter some of his children from venturing into politics. His first daughter, Lola Abiola- Edewor, represented Apapa Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 on the platform of AD before she moved to PDP and has had several unsuccessful bids to represent the people of Ogun Central Senatorial District at the Senate. Another of his daughters, Hafsat Abiola- Costello, who served as Special Adviser during the Ibikunle Amosun administration in Ogun State is presently the Director General of Governor Yahaya Bello’s Campaign Organisation. Another of the Abiolas, Rinsola, who was formerly an assistant to Kaduna State governor, Nasri el-Rufai, contested for a House of Representatives seat in the 2019 elections on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) but lost.

Abiola’s first son, Kola, is presently in the race for the 2023 presidency on the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) perhaps in a bid to actualise his late father’s unfulfilled dream.

Another political dynasty is the Shinkafi family of Zamfara State.

It was led by Alhaji Umaru Aliyu Shinkafi (now late), who served as Federal Commissioner of Internal Affairs before being appointed as Director General of the National Security Organisation (NSO). On his retirement in 1983, he delved into politics and was one of the promoters of the Nigerian National Congress (NNC), a political association formed in 1989. The NNC later joined the defunct National Republic Convention (NRC).

Shinkafi emerged as a leading presidential candidate of the party, but the primary election was later annulled by then military regime and the presidential aspirants banned from politics. Shinkafi’s younger brother, Aliyu, was elected governor of Zamfara State in 2007 on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) after he served as deputy governor during the eight-year tenure of Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima. His defection to the PDP cost him re-election in 2011 as he was defeated by ANPP’s Abdulaziz Yari. He re-contested in 2015 and lost again to Yari. Besides his sibling, the late Shinkafi’s daughter, Fatima, was appointed as commissioner for Commerce and Industry by Yari in 2015.

She was later appointed Executive Secretary, Solid Minerals Development Fund by President Muhammadu Buhari. Another of his daughters, Zainab, is the first lady of Kebbi State. While members of the established political dynasties are not likely to quit the stage for now, some new ones have equally emerged on the scene.

The new political dynasties, most of them led by former and serving governor, are hoping to seize the opportunity of the 2023 general election to challenge the status quo in their bid to expand frontiers. Among the ex-governors leading the new political clans include Bola Tinubu (Lagos) James Ibori (Delta), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Theodore Orji (Abia), Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti) and Sule Lamido (Adamawa), while the serving governors include Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta).

While some leaders of the new political dynasties and members of their families as well as associates are running for elective offices in the 2023 elections, others have positioned their children and cronies. Interestingly, some of the new political dynasties are offshoots of the established ones. This has set the stage for an interesting political battle not only at the federal and state levels.

The Tinubu political dynasty, for instance, has its leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, as one of the major contenders for the office of the president. Unlike others, the dynasty has as its members across the states of the South-West geopolitical zone and even beyond.

Tinubu’s first foray into active politics was as a founding member of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) through which he was elected as senator for Lagos West in 1992 in the aborted Third Republic. However, with the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Tinubu became a founding member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a pro-democracy group that insisted on restoration of democratic governance. In 1999, he was elected governor of Lagos State on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was re-elected in 2003.

He left office in 2007 and has been responsible for the emergence of three successive governors of Lagos State since then. They are Babatunde Fashola (2007-2015), Akinwumi Ambode (2015-2019) and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (2019 to date). Tinubu’s wife, Remi, was elected senator in 2011 and she is presently a three-term member of the Red Chamber. Interestingly, the former First Lady of Lagos State willingly opted out of the race for another term in the Senate ahead of the 2023 general election. Tinubu’s first daughter, Folashade Tinubu- Ojo, is the Iyaloja of Lagos State and the President General of the Market Men and Women of Nigeria.

The former governor’s mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, held the position before she passed on. A son-in-law of the APC leader, Oyetunde Ojo, represented Ekiti Central II Federal Constituency between 2011 and 2015, while his nephew, Gboyega Oyetola, is the incumbent governor of Osun State.

Tinubu, a kingmaker who wants to be king, believes that he has the confidence, vision, and capacity to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria. Unlike Tinubu, ex-Governor Ibori, who has dictated the political direction since his days as the chief executive officer of Delta State, presently has his hands full as some members of his political dynasty led by the incumbent governor of the state, Ifeanyi Okowa, who is the vice presidential candidate of the PDP over choice of candidates for the 2023 elections in the state.

While Ibori’s daughter, Erhiatake Ibori- Suenu, practically passed through the Biblical “eye of the needle” before she defeated Ben Igbakpa in the PDP primary election for Ethiope federal constituency ticket, it was a smooth sail for Okowa’s daughter, Mariyln Daramola, who clinched the House of Assembly ticket for Ika North East state constituency. Okowa, however, had his way in the governorship primary election as his anointed, Sheriff Oborevwori (speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly), defeated Ibori choice, Chief David Edevbie.

In Kano and Kwara states, the Kwankwaso and Saraki dynasties are plotting to return to power, having lost out in 2019. Leaders of both dynasties are Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State. Kwankwaso, who, like Tinubu, is in the race for the presidency on the platform of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), also has his son-in-law, Abba Kabir Yusuf, as the party’s governorship candidate of the party in Kano State. For Saraki, who was unsuccessful in his bid for the 2023 presidential ticket of the PDP, he has positioned members of his political dynasty, who were swept out of power in Kwara by the Governor AbdulRahman Abdul- Razaq-led Otoge Movement during the 2019 polls for elective positions. While all the political dynasties are gearing for the election, the question most analysts and observers are asking over the dominance of the political space by some families are: Does the existence of the political dynasties really help the people or do they exist to service the political interest of some individuals?

What key elements exist in these political dynasties that make them dominant in the political arena? Some analysts, who spoke on the emerging political trend, said the electorate share the biggest chunk of compromise that ensures that politicians perpetrate themselves and members of their families in power. A chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who said there is nothing new about political dynasties, however called for credible elections, so that Nigerians will be the ones to elect their leaders. His words: “There is nothing new about political dynasties in Nigerian politics; they have always been there just like in other parts of the world.

They are not only involved in politics as you will find them in other human endeavours like the law, accounting and medical professions. “However, the issue I will raise about the rise in the number of political dynasties in Nigeria is that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must guarantee free, fair and credible elections, so that it will behoove on the people to decide on who leads them.

“If we have a situation that votes count; it will not matter whether members of a few families share tickets of the political parties among themselves because the people will either reject or accept them at the polls.” A former presidential candidate of National Conscience Party (NCP), Chief Martins Onovo, said: “We must be vigilant to always condemn deviations, especially from people in leadership positions because, when such deviations are tolerated, they become not only precedents but standards. “While relations of office holders are Nigerian citizens and may be ordinarily qualified for the positions they seek, we must ensure that their sponsors do not abuse the power of their offices to install them unlawfully.”

Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, on his part, expressed concerns over the trend, not only warned against turning democracy into monarchy, but said it comes with a price. According to him, a situation where serving governors and former governors push their children who may not have the necessary experience and capacity to occupy political offices could end up breeding incompetence and mediocrity in governance.

His words: “This trend of politicians who are still in office or have left office trying to keep their family members in governance, some of them, their children and relatives who are not even known to be in the political cycle but just to secure political favours and also lay their hold on the treasury, is worrisome.

“They are now ensuring that without popular support from the electorate, they can use their influence to install their relatives. This is not really a good development because it is not on the basis of popular support or democratic credentials, competence or experience in their political or social life. “While we are not disputing the fact that Nigerians, irrespective of their relationship with individuals, are qualified to contest for political offices, but when it is done for the interest of just pushing family members to sustain political interests, sustain the opportunity of manipulating the public treasury and continue to exercise impunity, then it becomes worrisome.

“We will come to a situation, where we would have monarchy and not democracy; and this will affect political participation. We must not turn democracy to monarchy, where only family members will continuously inherit political power as it happens in the traditional institution. We don’t want that to happen. It will cripple integrity, competence and patriotic zeal in governance,” he said.