Nigeria’s political landscape is known for its twists and turns and one of the recurring drama that comes with it is the explosive fallout between godfathers and godsons.
These supposed power partnerships often degenerate into bitter public feuds, leaving a trail of broken alliances and raising questions about who truly controls the levers of power.
That is the case in Rivers State politics where the peace accord brokered by President Bola Tinubu between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his estranged godfather, Minister of FCT Nyesom Wike, seems to have hit the rock.
The fallout of the truce is against the background of the statement credited to lawmakers loyal to Mr. Wike, who had threatened the Governor with impeachment for running a one-man show.
Responding to the threats, the Governor, in front of his jubilant supporters, declared that his adversaries should not mistake his meekness for weakness.
Findings revealed the supremacy battle between the duo resurfaced partly because of the Governor’s refusal to extend an olive branch to the Wike’s camp, an integral part of the peace accord.
While such speculation may be correct, the crisis between political godfathers and godsons is always one of suspicions and mutual distrust. In essence, the relationship between godfather and godson, in many instances, is always one of cat and rat.
Since 1999, Nigerian governors have had a troubling history of falling out with their handpicked successors. The godfathers, who bankrolled and installed these governors, expect unwavering loyalty in return. However, tensions erupt when the godsons develop their own agendas.
Analysts say conflict brews once the godsons decide to think for themselves instead of dancing to the whims and caprices of their benefactors.
Bitter fallouts
Nigeria is littered with examples of these bitter public spats: Rabiu Kwankwanso vs. Umar Ganduje, Adams Oshiomhole vs. Godwin Obaseki, and Godswill Akpabio vs. Emmanuel Udom. The exceptions, like Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatai Ahmed, are rare.
The current situation between Wike and Fubara is hardly surprising. Numerous attempts at reconciliation have been made, but it seems both sides are determined to see this through
Wike enjoys the backing of a significant portion of the state lawmakers, but their legitimacy is under question. Since they defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), there’s debate over their power to impeach the Governor. Legal experts like Femi Falana argue that their seats became vacant upon switching parties, rendering them ineligible for impeachment proceedings.
Corroborating the position of Falana, political commentators and analysts have dug out the case of the 15 lawmakers who defected with Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, and his deputy, KelechiIgwe, from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC in 2022.
While the court pardoned the governor and his deputy because the constitution was silent in their case, it asked that by-elections be conducted for the 15 lawmakers by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
When former Governor Wike says his structure is being tampered with, which political novice might find difficult to grasp, he means the state lawmakers he installed to check Fubara are part of the structure. If the court declares that bye-elections be conducted,
Wike lawmakers must return to the house to achieve their goal of removing Fubara. But if they lost out, Wike would be forced to enter the list of godfathers whose godsons emerged victorious in the battle of supremacy.
However, the supremacy fight between political godfathers and their godsons, whether exciting or brutal, hinders the infrastructural development of the states. The godsons (governors) who are supposed to concentrate on governance while executing projects often waste time-fighting real and imaginary enemies with their godfathers in the murky waters of politics.
These godfather-godson supremacy battles ultimately hinder progress.
As the famous saying, when two elephants fight, the grass will suffer. In this case, it is the poor masses that will suffer from this avoidable selfish supremacy battle
Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight with Governor Fubara talking tough and Mr Wike also ready to prove he is a master as far as politics in the oil-rich River State is concerned.
