A godfather in Nigeria’s politics is a ‘big boss’ that maintains political control of a territory by ensuring that either he or his self-chosen appointees are elected to govern such areas.
Aside from being influential, they are rich enough to contribute to the campaign funds of some candidates with the aim of winning elections. They build loyalists around themselves and use their influence to manipulate the rest of society.
Reports have it that they sometimes block the participation of others within their political sphere and dictate party candidates. They do this due to the important leadership positions they hold or have held, their wealth, and their ability to mobilize grassroots support.
In the recently concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, some top politicians were humiliated and could not maintain their grip on their areas of control.
Battabox reviews how some political leaders were defeated in the 2023 elections.
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Samuel Ortom
He is one of the five governors that worked against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in their states.
The outgoing governor of Benue State lost his election bid for Benue North West Senatorial District in the National Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in the district, Titus Zam.
While the APC candidate polled 143,151, Ortom scored 106,882 and Labour Party had 51,950.
Atiku Bagudu
Atiku Bagudu is the governor of Kebbi State but he lost his bid to represent Kebbi Central Senatorial District in the forthcoming 10 National Assembly. He lost to Senator Adamu Aliero of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 126,588 votes.
Bagudu, the Chairman APC Progressives Governors Forum scored 92,389 votes.
Ben Ayade
Though in the Senate from 2011 to 2015, he later became a governor under the banner of APC in Cross River.
Ben Ayade, who is completing his eight-year tenure in 3-months, suffered a fatal defeat in his bid to return to the Senate.
He was defeated by the incumbent, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe of the PDP. While Agom-Jarigbe got 76,145 votes, Ayade polled 56,595.
Simon Lalong
The governor of Plateau State was the Director General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
Though a political heavyweight and former chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, he lost the bid to get the Plateau South Senatorial District slot.
He lost to Bali Ninkap Napoleon of the PDP who scored 148,844 votes. The governor had 91,674 votes.
Darius Ishaku
He is an outgoing two-term governor of Taraba state. He lost his bid to represent the Taraba South Senatorial District in the forthcoming 10th National Assembly under the banner of PDP.
His All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in the district, David Jimkuta, polled 85,415 to defeat Ishaku who got 45,708 votes.
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
Also, a member of the G5, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State lost his bid to represent Enugu North Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
He lost to Okechukwu Ezea of the Labour Party in the election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday.
While Ezea scored 104,948 votes to emerge the winner, Ugwuanyi came second with 46,948 votes.
Before becoming a governor in 2015, he was a member of the House of Representatives.
