2023: The North Makes First Move in the Game of Thrones

By Uche Mbah

Recent development in the polity has given the impression that the 2023 game of thrones have started in earnest, with a section of the Northern elites firing the first shots.

On issues of northern interests, the Northern elites meet and act across party lines, with unifying decisions binding on all.

Recently, the Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, has become the first casualty in the deadly Russian Roulete, when the economy was taken away from him by the cabal and handed over to the President, who insisted that Osinbajo must get approval for any decision he wants to take. All the Agencies that were traditionally assigned to him are being quietly withdrawn-although to save the little face he appears to still have, he insists he is still in the good books of the president.The presidency has allegedly accused Osinbajo of  not following due process in discharging his duties, an allegation he vehemently denied. Laolu Akande, his media aid, did much to assuage the situation. “The agencies in question”, he said, “are established by law and the Vice President has always insisted on due compliance with the enabling statutes and other established regulations.” According to him, such insinuations are  “misleading and aims only to plant seeds of discord in the Presidency while creating an unnecessary national hysteria.” Verdict: There is no discord in the presidency.

If that is so, the presidency has a strange way of showing it. Most of Osinbajo’s aids are currently directed to relocate their offices outside Aso Rock, the seat of power. Besides, the president had dispatched a memo instructing the Vice president to get presidential approval for National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), and the National Boundary Commission (NBC). These are traditionally agencies under his supervision.

But there are rumors that the travails of the vice president is not unconnected with the 2023 strategic positioning-a situation that the All Progressives Congress, APC, national Leader, Bola Tinubu is also ans interested party. “That is the strangest part”, a source hinted recently, “Why should Tinubu gang up with the cabal to destroy one he installed because they are eyeing the same goal? It all boils down to greed and power.”

The word has gone out: The South must not smell the presidency come 2023.Although this has been obvious, Tinubu appears confident with an ace up his sleeve. Rumors are rife that with the clamor for power to shift to the South east, he is already reaching out to destroy any threat from there. A high profile meeting was alleged to have been held in Awka, where a prominent South east senator was recruited to whittle down the influence of the possible major star from the zone. A request of thirty million to “fight the dirty media war” was mentioned. Though there appears to be no agreement in the deal, the dummy is being sold that the South east cannot speak with one voice.

Meanwhile the Northern elites are said to be busy screening candidates for replacement of Buhari. Three governors are said to be under scrutiny across party lines-all from the North west.

But there appears to be a hidden joker that might upset the apple cart: Atiku’s Supreme Court Appeal. Although many have dismissed it as a forgone conclusion that the ruling will be in favor of Buhari, still some are leaving room for surprises. “The Supreme Court is not like the Appeal Court which can be intimidated by requesting for their account details”, said a top PDP politician. “The moment the case is ruled against the incumbent, they will lose their power of intimidation. So it is up to them to decide whether they will rule in favor of the president and continue to be blackmailed for life. Your guess is as good as mine”.

Whichever way, the die is cast. If Atiku wins, there will also be the issue of when his tenure will end. And the permutations are taken into considerations by the Northern elites.