Few spectacles in Nigeria’s politics are as disorienting as the speed with which yesterday’s messiahs become today’s pariahs in the eyes of their own acolytes.
When ideological convictions are treated as disposable costumes tailored only for the immediate election cycle, public trust becomes the first casualty.
An example of this disturbing pattern emerged recently with public remarks attributed to Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, casting doubt on Peter Obi’s capacity to bring about the transformative change Nigeria so desperately needs. Only four years ago, during the 2023 presidential campaign, Baba-Ahmed barnstormed across the federation, presenting Obi as an incorruptible reformer, the singular statesman capable of rescuing the nation from economic ruin, institutional decay, and insecurity. Nigerians were told that the Obi-Datti ticket represented a clean, principled break from business-as-usual politics.
Now, with the 2027 elections underway and political alliances fracturing across party lines, the rhetoric has shifted drastically. The very leader once heralded as the visionary hope of a frustrated generation is suddenly framed as unfit for the monumental task of fixing the country.
This exposes the persistent dishonesty and intellectual duplicity running through mainstream Nigerian politics. If Obi was truly unfit to govern or change Nigeria, when exactly did this epiphany occur? Was the assessment suppressed during the 2023 campaign merely to harvest millions of votes from desperate youths who believed in their joint ticket? Or is this newfound critique merely a product of hurt political egos, shifting platforms, and the collapse of shared ambitions? Either scenario reflects a disturbing disregard for truth and integrity. If political leaders knew their partners lacked capacity but sold them to voters anyway, they committed an act of deliberate deceit. If they are now rewriting history simply because alliances have dissolved, they demonstrate petty political vindictiveness.
This culture of convenience is hardly unique to one faction, it is an affliction across Nigeria’s political class. Politicians cross carpets overnight, denounce the very policies they authored, and condemn yesterday’s running mates while embracing yesterday’s bitter enemies without batting an eye. Words are stripped of meaning, manifestos become meaningless sheets of paper, and principles are bartered away for personal survival and factional leverage.
Nigeria cannot build a durable democracy on such shifting sands of opportunism. The electorate deserves leaders whose pronouncements carry weight beyond the narrow exigencies of an upcoming poll.
If Nigerian politicians wish to retain any shred of moral authority to lead, they must learn to be consistent with the truth not just when it suits their immediate ambition, but especially when personal loyalty gives way to political divergence.