The Year 2022 came with a lot of indelible moments — from the buildup to the 2023 general elections, to the heightened security challenges, among other notable events that rocked Nigeria.
In this article, Tribune Online highlights some of the events that shaped 2022:
May 27: Labour Party as the “third force”
May 27 marks a new phase of politics in Nigeria’s political history as Peter Obi officially joined the Labour Party — a development that birthed the OBIdient Movement.
Undoubtedly, the emergence of Peter Obi as the LP presidential candidate has taken the party from its insignificant position to what political commentators termed the “Third Force”.
Before joining LP, the former Anambra Governor was a vice presidential candidate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in 2019. His defection to the Labour Party has transformed the party from “Zero to Number 3”.
May 28: Atiku’s emergency for the umpteenth time
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the proverbial serial aspirant made headlines after clinching the presidential ticket under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a record sixth time.
Atiku has unsuccessfully contested five times for the Office of President of Nigeria in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. He garnered 371 votes to defeat his closest rival, Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, who polled 237 votes.
Atiku’s emergency as PDP flag-bearer was one of the talking points that shaped Nigeria’s political space in 2022.
June 5: Owo massacre
It was a black Sunday for the people of Owo and its environs, as a bomb attack rocked a Catholic Church in the area on June 5, 2022. At least 40 people were killed following the gory attack, with the highest estimates being around 80.
Some sources in the federal government of Nigeria suspected the Islamic State – West Africa Province of carrying out the massacre.
June 8: Osinbajo ‘Lule’, Tinubu’s ‘Emi lokan’
Another high point of political discourse was the declaration of Bola Tinubu, the originator of the ‘Emi lokan’ mantra, as the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tinubu had defeated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who some political analysts considered the supposedly “anointed candidate” of President Muhammadu Buhari. But the “starboy” as fondly called by his admirers came a distant third in the keenly-contested primary.
June 18: Ekiti election
As expected, the Ekiti election saw Kayode Fayemi’s “anointed candidate” Biodun Oyebanji’s emergence as the 5th executive governor of Ekiti. He scored 11,247 votes to beat his closest contestants, Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bisi Kolawole of the PDP. Ekiti governorship election has come and gone, but the election has left a notable mark in Nigeria’s electoral and political history.
July 5: Kuje Prison break
Despite early warnings, the Kuje prison was attacked on Tuesday, July 5, by suspected terrorists, paving way for the escape of over 800 prisoners.
The group shot its way into the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre after overpowering security guards in a well-coordinated assault. About half of the escapees are still at large including over 60 Boko Haram terrorists. The attack on the Kuje facility was another notable event that rocked Nigeria in 2022.
July 16: Osun Decides 2022
On July 16, Ademola Adeleke, aka the dancing senator, defeated the then-incumbent governor Gboyega Oyetola to emerge as the fifth elected governor of Osun. Adeleke defeated Oyetola of the ruling All Progressives Congress with 402,979 votes to 375,077 votes.
The Osun election is another notable political event that rocked Nigeria in 2022 with a lot of lessons to learn from it.
November 20: Wike and his G5 friends
Sounds like the old series Binta and friends, but in this case, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his G5 warriors are not playing.
Following their fallout with the PDP’s national leadership, Wike and his allies popularly known as the ‘G5 Governors’ announced the formation of the Integrity Group within the party.
The development came at a time when the main opposition party is seeking to unseat the ruling APC come 2023. But Wike and his ‘five-man army’ wouldn’t cease giving Atiku the ‘pepper dem vawulence’.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some aggrieved party stalwarts, on Sunday, announced the formation of the Integrity Group within the party.
The Wike-led G5 Governors have been clamouring for the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu since the party’s presidential ticket was won by a northerner, Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku defeated Mr Wike and other aspirants to emerge as the PDP candidate. Other governors in the G5 are Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia.
… it is hard to talk about Wike without mentioning his hypemen backup team. Their model of adding pepper to the injury of Wike’s political enemies even makes their operation more painful.
November 23: CBN’s Redesigned Naira
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration made history as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unveiled the new notes of the three highest denominations of the Nigerian currency; N200, N500 and N1,000 on November 23.
According to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, the introduction of new notes was a deliberate step by the government to check corruption and counterfeiting of the notes. The last redesign was in 2014 when the N100 commemorative banknote was issued in celebration of Nigeria’s centenary celebration.
That action by the CBN Governor together with reducing the cash withdrawal limit was greeted with wild reactions, but in all, Emefiele moving from almost running for the number one political office in Nigeria to single-handedly fighting those hoarding the Naira and laundering is up there with the biggest issues of 2022.
