Pulse List 2018: 7 biggest moments in Nigerian politics

Here's a quick rundown of all the juicy bits of memorable moments that have gone down in Nigerian politics this year.

1. Return of the letter writer

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo ece-auto-gen

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, opened the floodgates of political drama this year when he went all guns blazing against President Muhammadu Buhari in a 13-page statement in January.

In the statement titled, "The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement", Obasanjo pointed out major failings of the Buhari administration, particularly in the area of economic prosperity.

He also faulted the president for appearing to exhibit nepotic interest, having poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics, as well as his administration's knack for not taking responsibility for issues.

More crucially, Obasanjo explicitly urged the president to step down after his first term and not consider seeking re-election.

Obasanjo's public spanking of Buhari's administration sparked quite the debate on whether the president deserved to even be on the ballot for a second term and eventually led to another public rejection by another former military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida.

In the statement, Obasanjo also announced the launch of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), a group he described as a movement of all well-meaning Nigerians that will engage in democratic practices that will drive Nigeria forward and be a source of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress.

The movement has not worked out quite as well as we imagined it would, especially ahead of the 2019 general elections, so we'll just let it quietly slide.

2. Buhari declares to run for re-election

Of course, President Buhari did not take Obasanjo's advice seriously.

President Muhammadu Buhari ece-auto-gen

Despite calls by the former president and several opposition voices urging the 75-year-old Buhari to go into retirement after his first term, he shocked absolutely no one when he publicly spat in everyone's faces.

While speaking during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of his All Progressives Congress (APC) on April 9, the president officially announced his intention to seek re-election in the 2019 presidential election. He said his decision was a response to the clamour by Nigerians to re-contest in 2019.

The president's official announcement was widely criticised by several high profile people in the opposition as well as his opponents who had declared interest in sitting in the Presidential Villa next year.

The president went on to win his party's primary election and is one of the favourites to win at the polls next year.

3. Atiku wins PDP's presidential ticket

Atiku Abubakar ece-auto-gen

Two's company, three's a crowd, but 12 aspirants vying for the presidential ticket of one party was a circus as Nigerians witnessed during the national convention of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in October.

Whoever won the party's ticket was already billed to become Buhari's biggest challenger at next year's polls and there were some heavyweights that were well-placed to snatch the crown and rub shoulders with Buhari.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former Senate President, David Mark; Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo; and former governors, Sule Lamido, Ahmed Makarfi, Attahiru Bafarawa, Jonah Jang and Rabiu Kwankwaso all battled to win the ticket, but from the ashes of past ill-fated presidential runs came former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to trounce them all in an election that was rancour-free.

Atiku's emergence as the PDP's candidate dominated public discourse for days and he kept racking up goodwill for the rest of the week as he also announced former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, as his running mate, a decision that was favourably received by the public.

The highlight of his week came when he was publicly endorsed by Obasanjo, the same man who had repeatedly sabotaged his presidential ambition over the past 10 years.

4. 51 lawmakers dump APC

Senator Dino Melaye ece-auto-gen

With 2018 being a pre-election year, many political moves were bound to be interpreted as an indication of what might happen in 2019. One of the most pivotal of such moves was the mass defection from the ruling APC to the PDP and a few other parties in July.

During plenary at the National Assembly on July 24, 14 senators dumped the APC, with 12 leaving for the PDP and 2 heading to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Shortly after on the same day, 37 members of the House of Representatives also dumped the APC with 33 of them heading to the PDP.

These defections opened the floodgates and sparked an exodus from the ruling party even five months later.

Since the July wave, Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and three state governors, Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Tambuwal (Sokoto) have also joined the main opposition party.

Senate President Bukola Saraki ece-auto-gen

These defections have been noted to be significant, as a similar tide that saw high-profile PDP office-holders defect to the then-opposition APC ahead of the 2015 general elections is considered to have been pivotal to the current government's victories at the polls.

The defections have not been one-sided as a few PDP members, most notably the PDP's own Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, resigned his position to hitch a ride with the APC.

However, if anyone was keeping scores, the PDP would be deemed the undisputable winner of the defection contest in 2018.

5. Gubernatorial elections in Osun and Ekiti

Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi ece-auto-gen

While the PDP racked up defection victories, APC made up for the losses by winning crucial state governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti, although in controversial fashion.

With tensions running high in the lead up to the election in Ekiti in July, APC candidate, Kayode Fayemi, beat the PDP's Kolapo Olusola with the candidates scoring 197,459 votes and 178,121 votes, respectively.

The opposition faulted the electoral process, alleging that it was characterised by violence and voting irregularities.

It was pretty much the same scenario that played out in Osun State two months later in an election that was even more dramatic.

Gboyega Oyetola ece-auto-gen

The election that originally took place on September 22 was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because the victory margin of 353 votes of first-placed Senator Ademola Adeleke (254,698 votes) of the PDP over second-placed Gboyega Oyetola (254,345 votes) of the APC was less than the 3498 votes cancelled in seven polling units.

After a rerun election at the affected polling units on September 27, the poll closed with Oyetola winning a total 255,505 votes, 482 more votes than Adeleke's 255,023.

Adeleke branded the rerun election a coup that had no place in a democracy, complaining that PDP supporters were denied access to polling units.

The results of both elections in Osun and Ekiti are currently being contested by the PDP before tribunals.

6. Sanwo-Olu humiliates Ambode in APC primary election

Ambode played host to bitter rival Sanwo-olu in his office ece-auto-gen

Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, will not be on the ballot next year to stand for re-election because the establishment rejected him.

Believed to have been handpicked and foisted as the party's choice in 2015 by the APC's national leader and former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, Ambode received no such goodwill for a doomed second term ambition.

That goodwill went to another Tinubu protege, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, a former commissioner who rose from relative obscurity just a few months ago to being crowned the favourite to become the next Lagos governor.

In the weeks leading up to the APC's primary election, Ambode ran from pillar to post trying to rally support from Tinubu and his political structure, but he failed, and that failure cost him a lot.

Before the election, Sanwo-Olu had secured the endorsement of virtually all the political pillars that ensured Ambode's victory in 2015 while the governor was busy flinging wild accusations around hoping one sticks and hurts his opponent.

While it was of little surprise that Ambode eventually lost the election, the manner in which he did stupefied even the most cynical analyst. Sanwo-Olu polled 970,851 votes, hundreds of thousands of votes more than the 72,901 votes secured by Ambode, a sitting governor.

Even though, at some point, it looked like the governor would dump the party just to appear on the ballot next year for another round, he has accepted defeat and lined behind Sanwo-Olu to succeed him.

7. The Oshiomhole Show

APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole ece-auto-gen

In June 2018, former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, was elected the new national chairman of the APC. Since then, the Oshiomhole Show has become the tap that never runs dry.

With a combative style inherited from his labour union days, the comrade has run foul of and commandeered public spats with friends and foes in the opposition party and even his own.

He has taken pot shots at Obasanjo, ran an impeachment campaign against Saraki and presided over a crisis-riddled primary elections that brought internal democracy in the APC into question.

APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole ece-auto-gen

The conduct of the party's primary elections has even brought him into hot water with the Department of State Services (DSS) as he's been alleged to have received bribes in millions of dollars from several party members to manipulate the elections in their favour.

There's no predicting what he does next.