5 Nigerian Political Godfathers and Their Crimes

In Nigerian politics, “political godfathers” play a big role, but their influence is often seen as harmful.

These godfathers help shape political outcomes and guide new leaders, but they also engage in corrupt practices that damage the country’s governance.

These godfathers have a lot of control over political candidates and can affect elections, usually putting their own interests ahead of what’s good for the public.

The godfathers in Nigeria mean more than just a mentor; they represent a system where politics is based on personal connections rather than democratic values.

Here are 5 Political Godfathers in Nigeria

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Over the past twenty years, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also known as the Asiwaju of Lagos, has been a major figure in Nigerian politics.

During this time, he’s been involved in many controversies related to financial misconduct and taking over state resources for personal gain.

One significant case is shown in the 2015 documentary “The Lion of Bourdillon,” which accuses Tinubu of taking money from Lagos State and putting it into his own accounts, greatly increasing his wealth.

Just five days after it aired, Tinubu sued the filmmakers for N150 billion and got the documentary banned from Nigerian TV.

Tinubu has always denied these accusations of financial wrongdoing during his time as governor of Lagos and afterwards.

However, he has never fully explained how he became so wealthy. In 2019, his wealth was questioned again when two armoured money-carrying vans were seen leaving his large home in Lagos right before the elections.

When asked about it, Tinubu said, “I have money to spend…if I like, I give it to the people free of charge.”

Some of his political allies have tried to explain away his comments and the presence of these vans, but their explanations have not been very believable.

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Nnamdi Azikiwe, a key Nigerian leader, was accused of taking £2 million from Eastern Region’s funds to buy shares in the African Continental Bank, a bank where he and his family owned a lot of shares.

The colonial government thought he did this to fix the bank’s money problems and to support his political party, the NCNC, against the Action Group (AG), the main party in the Western Region at that time.

A commission that looked into these claims found Azikiwe guilty of wrongdoing.

However, these findings didn’t really affect how popular he was, nor did they hurt the popularity of his party. In the next elections, Azikiwe and his party won big in the Eastern Region.

His charm and leadership continued to win over many people, and in 1963, Azikiwe became the first president of an independent Nigeria.

Atiku Abubakar 

In the run-up to Nigeria’s 2023 elections, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was accused of taking government money to help his political party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), while he was Vice President from 1999 to 2007.

This was just one of many scandals that came up before the elections. When asked about these accusations in a BBC interview, Atiku said they were nothing new.

Atiku’s comment pointed to a bigger issue. The problem of unclear and questionable political finances in Nigeria is not a new one; it has been around since before the country became independent.

This long history of financial issues in politics continues to affect the trustworthiness of elections and the actions of politicians in Nigeria.

Obafemi Awolowo

Obafemi Awolowo, who once led the Western Region of Nigeria, was accused of taking public money to help his political party and its leading members.

He allegedly took more than £8 million from the Western Region Marketing Board. An investigation by a Commission of Inquiry found him guilty of these accusations.

Unlike Nnamdi Azikiwe, whose career survived similar accusations, Awolowo’s political career suffered greatly.

These accusations played a big part in causing a political crisis in the Western Region, which eventually led to Awolowo being put in prison.

This crisis also contributed to the downfall of Nigeria’s First Republic after a military coup in January 1966.

Ganduje 

In October 2018, videos were released by an online news site called Daily Nigerian, showing the governor receiving large amounts of dollar bills, which looked like bribe money from contractors.

These videos were reportedly taken secretly. The governor, through his spokesperson, denied the allegations, claiming the videos were altered to damage his reputation.

He also threatened to sue Daily Nigerian and the journalist who published the videos.

In November 2018, the governor, Ganduje, filed a lawsuit against Jaafar Jaafar, the publisher of Daily Nigerian, accusing him of defamation for releasing the videos.

On June 30, 2021, Ganduje tried to withdraw the lawsuit, planning to file it again later. However, on July 6, Jaafar’s lawyer argued in a counter-claim that Ganduje’s lawsuit was pointless and just wasting the court’s time.

The next day, the judge, Justice S. B. Namalam, allowed Ganduje to withdraw his lawsuit but ordered him to pay ₦400,000 to both Jaafar and Daily Nigerian.

By August 2021, Jaafar stated that Ganduje had not yet paid the total of ₦800,000 or even contacted his lawyers about the payment. On July 15, 2021, Ganduje filed another defamation lawsuit against Jaafar and Daily Nigerian. Before this, Jaafar had also sued Ganduje, asking for ₦300,000.