6 overrated politicians who Nigerians can't stop talking about

A number of politicians have been labelled as the most overrated as their accomplishment and strides do not correspond with the sense of importance and entitlement they claim.

These politicians, who are affiliated with the two largest political parties in Nigeria - the Peoples Democratic Party (APC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) - have been in politics for years with little to no overwhelmingly major achievement that stimulates nationwide interest or conversation.

Many of these politicians are very vocal and do not shy away from the opportunity to be in the news. Some of them who happen to have held public office; either as a minister, Governor or party stakeholders, are usually critizised by Nigerians over their actions.

Below are names of these overrated politicians as stated by Nigerians:

Ajibola Basiru

A lawyer and politician who is the national secretary of the ruling All Progressive Congress and a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Osun State in Nigeria.

His political career began with his affiliation to the Alliance for Democracy (AD), which later transformed into the Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and eventually the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He served as a commissioner during the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, where he held key positions, including Honourable Commissioner of Regional Integration and Special Duties, and later Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Osun State.

In 2019, Senator Basiru represented Osun Central Senatorial District as a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He was later appointed as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs (Senate Spokesperson).

Basiru is known for his clap backs on any person who dared take a swipe at him. Many have also accused him of being snobbish and arrogant.

Though he has been a known political operative for decades and occupied various positions, there is a widely held belief that he has been a failure when it comes to embarking or executing policies and plans that directly improve the lives of people.

Nyesom Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and former Governor of Rivers State. He is known for his controversial nature. He masterminded the G-5 Governors, known as the Integrity Group. They are a group of five governors from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)who refused to support Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP, in the 2023 presidential election because they believed the presidency ought to rotate from the north to the south.

During his tenure as Governor, Wike walked with a band who sung his praise at intervals. His famous quote “as e dey sweet us, e dey pain dem” became a mantra used to taunt his opponents.

Wike’s outspoken and fearless personality makes him unattractive to many residents in his home state. This was evident during the election. While Wike was supporting Bola Tinubu of the APC, residents devoured him and became staunch supporters of Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

Adamu Garba

Social media influencer and ex-presidential aspirant of the Young Progressives Party, is known as a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Having left the APC in May, after raising N83 million to buy the presidential nomination form of the ruling party, he decamped to the YPP where he contested the primaries of the party but lost.

Garba is a popular controversial figure on social media. In 2020, he sued Twitter and its former founder, Jock Dorsey, for supporting the EndSARS protests. He also launched a social media platform called Crowwe.

During the controversial Twitter ban, he offered his platform as an alternative to the microblogging site. However, Crowwe was deleted from App Store after a series of bad reviews and allegations of plagiarism of the terms and conditions of Sporty, another social media software.

Aside his social media rants, Garba is yet to influence any youth politically. His continuous defense for the All Progressives Congress gives many Nigerians reason to wonder his worth as a politician.

Rabiu Kwankwaso

He was a 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP. He contested the election and lost having won in only one state, Kano.

The 66-year-old politician was a former Governor of Kano state from 1999-2003 and from 2011-2015. Kwankwaso was later appointed as Minister of Defence during the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 2003 to 2007.

He was later elected to the Senate in 2015 where he served only one term representing Kano Central Senatorial District.

Kwankwaso holds a Ph.D. in water engineering from the Sharda University India. Despite his many impeccable records and achievements, Rabiu Kwankwaso is seen as overrated in the political arena following his continuous losses in the presidential elections. He has been unable to attain the support of Nigerians asides his home state, Kano.

After spending several years as Governor, Kano is yet to be a civilized and industrious state. It was revealed that, Kwankwaso allegedly sold government properties to himself and his associates at very low prices.

Kano state is yet to boast of any infrastructural facility, however, there seem to be some sought of loyalty between Kwankwaso and the residents who constantly award him their votes.

Charles Soludo

The current Governor of Anambra State, is a former governor and chairman of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Soludo continues to receive backlash from his residents following his failure to curb the ongoing banditry, killings, cultism and other happenings in the south-east state.

As a result of the sit-at-home in Anambra state, children education is affected, market women and men are faced to struggle for their daily survival.

Despite all these events happening under his government, Soludo is seen parading himself as a man of affluence and wealth while taunting his opponents.

Ademola Adeleke

Popularly called the “dancing senator”, Ademola Adeleke served as a senator for the Osun West Senatorial District between 2017 and 2019.

He was a Senator who represented Osun West Senatorial District between 2017 and 2019. He later was elected as Governor of Osun state in 2022.

Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closest rival, the incumbent governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes.

Although he is famous for his dancing skills, many have raised concerns about his tenure as a Senator. With little or nothing to show for his works as Osun state senator many residents ask if he will make any impact as a Governor.

One could see that although Ademola is from a wealthy family, as he is known to be the uncle to famous singer, David Adeleke commonly known as Davido and the brother to billionaire Adedeji Adeleke, what would good will emanate from him.

BS/NBA