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GLITZ Focus
Perhaps because of his squeaky clean image and sterling achievements as a top corporate player, there were concerns and misgivings about the foray of Senator Tokunbo Abiru into politics. He was until last September the Group Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank reputed for stabilising and restoring the bank to the path of profitability. His resignation from banking to vie for a senatorial seat in Lagos State sent shock waves around the industry. Would he perform as a Senator? How would he transition from the corporate world to politics or survive Nigerian politics’ murkiness without losing his marbles? These were some of the genuine agitations of many. Two months into his senatorial odyssey, Abiru has been visible and voluble, initiating bills and lending his voice to debates on the floor of the Red Chamber and proving sceptics wrong by quickly settling into his new role as a Senator of the Federal Republic, writes Lanre Alfred.
There are strong indications that the Lagos State governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, might not make it as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2023 Lagos Governorship Poll as plot to drop the hardworking governor from the race gathers momentum.
Plot Against Sanwo-Olu’s Second Term
It is two full years to the next general elections in 2023 but the powers that be in Lagos are already plotting to see Governor Sanwo-Olu’s back. The boyish and dynamic governor is everywhere and on top of every incident that has dogged his administration, right from the very first few months of his inauguration when deadly pipeline fire broke out and ravaged Lagos communities in quick succession to the first index coronavirus case in Nigeria in March 2020 and then the destructive and disastrous #EndSARS protest at the Lekki toll gate on October, 2020.
The first confirmed case in Nigeria was announced on February 27, when an Italian citizen in Lagos tested positive for the virus.
On March 9, a Nigerian citizen who had contact with the Italian was traced to Ewekoro, Ogun State, and recorded as the second case of the virus in the country.
Nigeria recorded the first death from the virus on March 22. As at December 23, 1,236 deaths have been reported across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Five deaths daily
Although Nigeria is one of the countries with low fatality rates from the virus, the country averages five deaths daily since the first death from the coronavirus was announced in March.
Top political events in Nigeria that shaped 2020
The sack of Emeka Ihedioha as Imo State Governor by the Supreme Court was a major political event in 2020 that generated ripples in the country s political space.
The year 2020 was definitely one of the most dramatic years in Nigeria’s modern political history.
Despite the disruption caused by the deadly coronavirus, the country’s political sphere was filled with its usual twists and turns which led to defections, re-appointments, dismissals and more.
In the last 12 months, Nigerian political space witnessed two governorship elections,15 state and national assembly elections, death of key political figures, political ‘moves’ and engagements ahead of the 2023 general elections.