2019: PDP heavyweights whose children and relations work in enemies’ camp

The dictum, that in politics, there is “No permanent friend, no permanent enemy but permanent interests’, best describes the alignment and realignment of forces in the current political environment in Nigeria.

With less than 40 days to the 2019 general election, some Nigerian politicians have been switching alliances even as blood relations have become sworn enemies; no thanks to partisanship.

For instance, in the February 16, 2019 National Assembly election, the fierce rivalry in Anambra South Senatorial District will be between two brothers from the same father and mother, Andy and Chris Uba.

While Chris Uba, the youngest of the Ubas, secured the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the senatorial district, Andy Uba, who currently represents the zone in the National Assembly, will contest the race on the platform of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

This is not the first time two blood relatives would square up against each other under different political parties. In August 2018, Kabir and Ahmad Babba-Kaita competed on the platforms of PDP and APC, respectively for Katsina by-election. The election was eventually won by the younger brother, Ahmad Babba-Kaita.

The forthcoming general election has thrown up a new political trend where children of political gladiators are breaking ranks with their biological fathers and pitching their tents with rival political parties. Interestingly, while these bigwigs command large followers across the country, their children are pitching their tents with arch-enemy-infested platforms.

BusinessDay also observes that while the political heavyweights are from the main opposition PDP, their biological children are supporting the ruling APC.

Political commentators have expressed divergent views on the matter. Some opined that the children of the political gladiators want to carve out their own political brands/niche distinct from their fathers’, even as others submit that whichever way it goes, the ruling class are beneficiaries of what they termed Any Government In Power (AGIP).

Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo withdrew his support for President Muhammadu Buhari and endorsed his estranged vice president, Atiku Abubakar.

But Olujonwo Obasanjo, son of the former president, would have none of that, as he pitched his tent with Buhari’s campaign team.

The former president’s son who wrote a letter to the campaign team in September 2018 declaring his support for the re-election of Buhari, was welcomed at the headquarters office of the Buhari Campaign Organisation by Director of Logistics, Buhari Campaign Organisation, Nasiru Danu, the following month. A lot of political capital was made out of the young Obasanjo’s moves.

Doyin Okupe

In November 2018, Ditan Okupe, U.K-trained lawyer and first son of Doyin Okupe, former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan, followed the footsteps of Obasanjo’s son by declaring support for President Buhari’s re-election bid.

His father, Doyin Okupe, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and ardent supporter of Atiku Abubakar’s 2019 Presidency, is currently facing 59-count charge over alleged money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But in a letter he sent to the Buhari Campaign Organisation, the young Okupe begged to join the campaign team of Buhari to work for his re-election.

He described Buhari as the best candidate for the top job, adding that everything must be done to prevent his father’s party, the PDP, from returning to power in the forthcoming elections.