The Politics of 2015 By Ajibola Bakare.

This is just 2013 and the heat of 2015 is already been felt across the nation. Nigeria is a country so full of intrigues and surprises, hence all political actors grinding ahead of 2015 are already on their marks so as not to be left out in the race or even outran, the Presidency is not left out.

Nigeria as a country is faced with different challenges, and on a daily basis, the problems of security, the unemployment, the inflation, bad government policies, Governance, are been substituted with Politics of part coloration and affiliation and one begin to imagine if the politics of 2015 would be in any way different from that of the previous ones, especially that of 2011.

The ancient city of Abeokuta in Ogun state and minna in Niger State have played host to the cream del a cream of the Nigerian politics in the last few weeks. First it was the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Goodswill Akpabio who stormed the hilltop private residence of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for a closed door meeting to brainstorm on the 'game' ahead of 2015 and the Nigerian Governors Forum saga. For those who missed the gist about the NGF election where we were told that 16 is greater than 19, I hope to do a recap of the event in subsequent articles. But the aftermath of the NGF election is the ongoing war between the Governor of River State and the Chairman of a faction of the NGF, Hon Rotimi Amaechi and the powers that be.

There seems to be a power tussle between the Rivers state governor and the First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan who incidentally is an indigene of Rivers state. It is constitutionally wrong for a president to interfere in the affairs of a state except if there is a security breech where a state of Emergency is declared, let alone the First Lady. But Of course, there had been several denial and counter-denial that the Aso Villa has no hand in the Crisis rocking Rivers state.

While the issue of the second term agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan continues to tear the leadership of the PDP apart, some northern governors have also began to chat a new course ahead of 2015 and shop for a successor for President Goodluck Jonathan and that was what warranted their visits to both Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Gen Ibrahim Babangida in Abeokuta and Minna respectively. The President is not also left out in this strategic visits cum consultations as he also visited the former President the same day as the Northern governors but at different times in what seem to be a hide and seek game. What is it that the former heads of State have to offer us as a country knowing fully well that they are the arrow heads of our problems in Nigeria today. The visits of the Governors to these 'leaders' shows how backward they are and the backwardness of Nigeria. We should begin to look for how to do away with these people if we really want to get it right in Nigeria.

The Northern Governors are angry with the president on the issue of his re-election bid but seized the opportunity of the NGF crisis as well as the River state crisis to express their displeasure with the Presidency. A statement was once credited to the Chairman of the Northern state governors and Governor of Niger state, Aliyu Mu'azu Babangida saying the President signed a pact for a single term with them and asked the President to keep to his words the way he(Aliyu Babangida) kept the ones he made with the people of Niger State(sic).

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state also forgot to tell us the 'sacrifices' he made in ensuring the president's election victory in 2011. He called the President ungrateful because of the way he was being treated by the party as against how he ensured the President won in 2011. What exactly was Nyako expecting from the party that he is not getting? Nigerians shouldn't be surprised with the series of revelations and confessions that they shall be hearing as 2015 draws near. Confessions of how people 'helped' themselves to get to power.

While the PDP saga gets messier by the day, even though they still remain the party to beat at the National level, the battle line is set to be drawn between the opposition under the auspice of All Progressive Congress(APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) as the former gave 31st of July as the final deadline for registration by the latter else, the entire Abuja will be shut down. How potent is the APC threat? Or will INEC give in to cheap threat even when the APC is yet to meet the conditions for registration? We hope to find out soon.

At the State level, while Power will be changing hands in some states whether due to underperformance or expiration of tenure, Some are already aligning and re-aligning to retain their seats.

Does the Politics of 2015 have anything whatsoever to do with the pardon granted the Chief security Officer to Late Gen Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the time is already tickling.

Ajibola Bakare is an Alumni of Political Leadership Academy(POLA) and an Advocate for Real Change. Follow him on twitter @hardgeeballer

Much Regards,

Ajibola Bakare.

This Article is Strictly the opinion of the writer and not in anyway connected to PoojaBlog.