By Okechukwu Nwanguma
Nigerians have a worrying tendency to forget too quickly—and our collective amnesia often comes at great cost to accountability, justice, and political sanity.
One such forgotten episode is the explosive war of words between Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in July 2020, in the heat of the build-up to the Edo State governorship election.
It all began when Governor Ganduje—nicknamed “Gandollar” following a viral video in which he was allegedly caught stuffing wads of dollar bills into his babanriga, reportedly as bribes from contractors—was appointed by the APC to lead its campaign for the Edo election. During the inauguration of the APC campaign council, Ganduje issued a rather comical threat: that the APC would “quarantine” Wike, who had been appointed to lead the PDP’s campaign.
It was a jab that could only have come from a man confident in his impunity. But, true to form, Wike didn’t take it lying down. In a sharp and scathing response, he questioned the audacity of a man “caught on camera collecting bribes” to threaten anyone, let alone lead a ruling party’s campaign. “What kind of country is this?” Wike asked, voicing the thoughts of millions of bewildered Nigerians. “How can a man with a corruption scandal hanging around his neck have the effrontery to threaten anyone?”
And that was the real issue—not just the petty theatrics of two political gladiators sparring for the cameras, but what their exchange revealed about the depth of moral rot and hypocrisy in Nigeria’s political class. Here was a man whose image had become a symbol of alleged corruption, elevated to lead a campaign under a party whose cardinal mantra is “anti-corruption.” And here was another man, no stranger to controversy himself, holding up a mirror to the absurdity of it all.
But perhaps the most tragic part of that saga is not that it happened, but that it was quickly forgotten. No investigations. No consequences. No lessons. Both men have continued to strut the national stage, trading roles and political alliances, as if nothing happened. Ganduje would later become National Chairman of the APC; Wike, a PDP governor, would go on to serve as a minister in an APC-led government.
This is Nigeria’s political tragedy: a landscape where scandal is temporary, outrage is seasonal, and memory is conveniently short. Public accountability dies in the fog of selective amnesia.
We must resist the temptation to forget. We must remember not only the events, but the character, contradictions, and consequences they represent. Only a politically conscious and historically literate citizenry can demand better. Until then, we remain trapped in a loop where the corrupt become crusaders, and truth becomes a casualty of expedience.
Let’s not forget what happened in July 2020. Let’s remember what it says about our politics—and ourselves.
Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma is a human rights activist and Executive Director, RULAAC
