This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.
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In the famous Harry Potter series, the villain, Voldemort, succeeded, for the most part, because he had followers who were more than ready to fight, bleed and die for him. Unfortunately, this type of loyalty doesn’t exist in Nigerian politics. The “Emi lo kan” campaign team of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) recently experienced this first-hand as they were seemingly betrayed by one of their own a month before the presidential election.
On January 21, 2023, Hajiya Naja’atu Muhammad, a Director in the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for the APC, tendered her resignation letter. She claimed she didn’t want Nigeria’s affliction to rise a second time by supporting Bola Tinubu, APC’s presidential candidate, who’s too sick to rule a nation properly. Also, she said she’d be quitting partisan politics because none of them aligned with her values or beliefs.
This is why it was shocking to see Hajiya Muhammad, a mere 72 hours after her resignation and “quitting party politics”, smiling brightly for the camera with Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
And while we’re still trying to figure out if this means she’s now a part of PDP’s campaign, the APC recently released a statement saying Hajiya’s resignation is a scam as she was fired for incompetence and being a mole.
So you can’t help but wonder, was Hajiya Muhammad just someone planted by the PDP into Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign or was she recently bought over?
What else happened this week?
Woman wins ₦1.5 million for being called a witch
In the words of the great Bobrisky, “Have you ever seen anybody on this earth that died of insurrrttt?”. Well, you can’t die from insult, but you can make money off it.
On June 5, 2020, Sahura Suleiman, on her way back from grocery shopping, was called a witch, hypocrite and bastard by six people: her in-laws, neighbour and a native doctor. They grabbed her by her neck and also almost stripped her naked.
In turn, she filed a case against them in court for defamation and breach of her fundamental human rights. Three years later, it ended in praise as a High Court in Kano ordered the six respondents to pay a sum of ₦1.5 million.
Have you seen this video?
Question of the week
We’re weeks away from the 2023 general elections. Have you gotten your PVC yet?
Ehen one more thing…
Nigeria experienced one of the worst flooding crises in 2022. The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has released a report warning Nigerians to expect early rainfall in most parts of the country. Here’s everything you need to know about this.
