Politicians all over the world are always after their interests. This interest could be to serve the people or vice versa, but interest is what prompts a person to participate in party politics. When people who share similar interests at a particular time meet, they form caucuses and groups even within a political party.
When these people meet, they become loyalists to one another. They share secrets and plans, they make known to one another their ambitions, especially to contest for positions. These people hold secret meetings and come up with plans on how to ensure their plans become reality. Sometimes, they hold discreet nocturnal meetings in the most unexpected places. Some even go the extra mile by consulting spiritualists to take loyalty oaths.
There is hierarchy in among these set of politicians and at the peak of it is one who has gained experience and wealth, mostly having held a political post in the past; he is called the godfather. He is leader, he has the money and influence. He is the major financier of others’ political ambitions.
And the best way those he finances can pay him back is to remain loyal to him. Also, when they have attained their desired positions, they are obliged to channel some funds to the godfather which is always in form of awarding contracts to him or his cronies. These contracts are over inflated, so that the godfather can have more to scoop for himself after completing the projects.
But loyalty is a fragile thing that when put to test, may falter, especially among politicians. Politicians seem to cooperate whenever the land is fertile, and they are quick to take to their heels when the once green land changes into an unfavourable colour. This is why we say that there is no permanent enemy or friend in politics, but common interest. Things don’t always go as planned, even among the most faithful of the politicians.
In the Nigerian political sphere, we have seen intimate political friends, allies who became enemies in the course of their political journey, we have seen godfathers and godsons become rivals.
In this piece, we try to bring to you some of the politicians whose relationships were very strong at a time before it hit the rocks.
Obi and Obiano
Recently, the two power players in the politics of Anmbra State have been throwing allegations and counter allegations at each other. Willie Obiano, the present governor of the state accused the immediate past governor of mismanagement of fund.
The immediate past governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, reacted to the recent allegation of his successor, Chief Willie Obiano, that the alleged N75 billion savings bequeathed to him by Obi in March 2014, was far less than the actual figure. He accused the incumbent governor of distortion of facts and gross financial mismanagement.
Obiano had at a recent press conference in Awka, the Anambra State capital, dismissed Obi’s claims as “half-truths” pointing out that the former governor left the state with a huge debt burden of N106.2 billion when his tenure expired on March 17, 2014. He wondered how Obi could have given Anambra people a rosy picture of the assets he left behind without showing them the liabilities he incurred.
The governor, who made this known through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solomon Osita Chukwulobelu, insisted that out of the N185.1bn, the Obi administration could only pay the sum of N78.9bn when it handed over power in March last year, bringing the total liabilities to N106.2bn.
These claims attracted the attention of Obi yesterday, when he described in a statement issued by his media aide, Valentine Obienyem, how Obiano squandered the hard-earned savings in foreign currency which would have gone a long way in sustaining the development of the State.
The statement entitled, “We Need a Public Debate on the N75 billion Peter Obi left,” provided details and listed the areas the money was frittered away to include N5 billion approved by the present administration for the celebration of the first 100 days in office, the N1 billion monthly security vote, hundreds of billions spent for 2014 Christmas decoration and buying of horses and the N40 million to mount the gates at the Government’s Lodge.
Fashola and Tinubu
Though the two have not openly expressed this, but the relationship between them has been shaky ever since Fashola succeeded Tinubu as the governor of Lagos state.
During the tenure of Fashola as the governor of Lagos state, there was widespread report of the ailing relationship between him and his godfather and erstwhile governor of Lagos state, Ahmed Bola Tinubu. According to a report by a source close to both of them, the disagreement started when Fashola refused to inform Tinubu about the reimbursement of the state by the Federal Government.
During the tenure of Olusegun Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria and Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor of Lagos state, the Federal Government refused to pay Lagos State allocation that belonged to the local government councils because Tinubu had created new Local Council Development Areas. This disagreement started with the creation of LCDAs by the then governor which did not go well with the federal government, so the money was seized. There was a report that Tinubu had to borrow the state his personal money to fund the newly created local governments.
Obasanjo’s and Tinubu’s tenures ended and Yar Adua’s and Fashola’s tenure started. During the tenure of Yar Adua, the money, about N14 billion, was refunded to the state. Tinubu had expected Fashola, being the governor of the state at the time of the refund, to refund the money he personally borrowed the state when money was not allocated to the local governments he created, but he, Fashola, delayed the payment and this caused a silent war between them.
Even after the score was settled between the two of them, there is still no evidence of a renewed relationship between the two. Recently, Fashola’s ministerial ambition faced thorough opposition from the camp of his former godfather, this shows that the silent war was between the two continues.
Wike and Amaechi
Wike and Amaechi used to be best of friends, in fact, during the first tenure of Amaechi as the governor of Rivers state, Wike was the chief of staff of the state. Wike also served as the Director General of the Amaechi’s second term election campaign committee. Wike worked tirelessly to ensure his boss won his reelection which he did. But, as loyalty will test itself between the two, they have now become bitter enemies that don’t see eye to eye.
During the last elections, some supporters of the two lost their lives in the violence that erupted between them.
Their rivalry started when when Wike became a minister under former president Jonathan’s administration and Amaechi decamped to the opposition APC. Wike, who was also nursing the ambition of taking over the Rivers state governorship seat from Amaechi, felt his ambition will be realized if he stayed put in the PDP.
Also, the disagreement between Amaechi and the wife of the former president, Patient Jonathan, saw Wike taking the side of his boss’s wife.
