Sitting from left, Tom Ikimi, Atiku Abubakar, David Mark, Sule Lamido and others

This is the season of politics when any step taken by a ruling party attracts flak from the opposition, and vice versa. In this case, Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate off Nigeria (SAN) and Aviation Minister, fires missiles at the new-breed politicians who are planning to unseat President Bola Tinubu.

Keyamo’s thesis is that the politicians, given their background, cannot change Nigeria.

1. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Atiku was vice president from 1999 to 2007. He was also the head of Obasanjo’s privatisation programme, where he sold a national asset, ALSCON, built for $3.3bn, to a Russian friend for a paltry $250 m.

He is 78 years old.

2. Senator David Mark

He retired as a Brigadier General in the Nigerian Army. He stood firmly against the restoration of the June 12 mandate to the winner, Bashorun Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola. He was the military governor of Nige state from 1984 to 1986. He was a senator for twenty years between 1999 and 2019. He was the longest-serving Senator President, serving eight years between 2007 and 2015.

He is 77 years old.

3. Alhaji Sule Lamido

Sule Lamido was a member of the Second Republic House of Representatives and the national secretary of the original Social Democratic Party, who betrayed the June 12 struggle. He was the governor of Jigawa state for eight years between 2007 and 2015. He was found wanting not only in the state fund but also with his son.

This new breed of politician is 76 years old.

4. Arc Tom Ikimi

Ikimi was the Nigerian foreign affairs minister from 1995 to 1998 after he betrayed the June 12 struggle. He was the national chairman of the National Republican Congress before his appointment as minister, after Abacha put a nail in the coffin of the aborted third republic.

A perennial political liability, Ikimi often struggles to win his polling unit in his native Igueben, let alone Esanland or Edo State for PDP, even though he prides himself on being a “national leader.”

In fact, in Edo State, a common joke refers to Ikimi as “An old Chevrolet car that guzzles 10 litres of petrol to cover only one kilometre journey”. Ikimi collects a fortune but only delivers a few votes in his home base.

When he lost out in his bid to become APC national chairman in 2014, Ikimi wailed like a little kid denied a lollipop: “They took my pot of soup away.”

The new breed Edo-born politician is 81, three years older than Atiku.

5. Mr Rotimi Amaechi

Amaechi was the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007. He was the governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015. He was minister of transport (which included today’s blue marine ministry) between 2015 and 2022 when he reluctantly resigned to contest for the APC presidential ticket, which he lost despite running around a stadium in what was supposed to be a thanksgiving service.

Before 1999, he worked as a clerk at PAMO Clinic, owned by Dr Peter Odili, his political mentor, who later betrayed and persecuted him as governor between 2007 and 2015.

Since 1999, he has not done anything outside politics and public office. If democracy has failed Nigeria since 1999, as he claims, he shares in the blame.

He celebrated his 60th birthday anniversary in hunger in a hall rented with millions of naira.

6. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

Aregbesola was the commissioner of works in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, the governor of Osun State from 2010 to 2018, and the minister of public holidays and prison breaks between 2019 and 2023, but he was originally appointed the minister of interior.

He is 68 years old.

7. Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal

He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2015, Speaker between 2011 and 2015, governor of Sokoto state from 2015 to 2023, and senator from 2023 to the present.

He is 59 years old.

8. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai

El-Rufai was appointed Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises in 1999. In 2003, he was appointed minister of the federal capital territory. He was elected governor of Kaduna state in 2015 and got re-elected in 2019. As Kaduna Governor, he was notorious as a divisive element who set Muslim against Christian minorities in Kaduna. Southern Kaduna dripped of blood throughout his tenure as ethno-religious crises engulfed the state. Since he left Kaduna Government House, peace has miraculously returned to entire Kaduna. No prize for guessing who was fanning the embers of division in Kaduna between 2015 and 2023.

This newbreed politician is just 65 years old.

As we can see, they have never played any role in the destiny of our country and this is why they want to bring a change in 2027.

Authored by Festus Keyamo, SAN and Aviation Minister