With general elections fast approaching, presidential candidates have begun making a barrage of promises – some of which may never materialise – in an attempt to woo voters in a nation that is drowning in debt, inflation and insecurity crises, among others.

Nigeria’s political heavyweights are again locking horns, switching alliances and trading jabs in their quest to win the presidency.

But before the campaign season gets into full swing, Peoples Gazette revisits some of the defining moments from the 2023 presidential race, from Bola Tinubu’s “Emi lokan” and “Bulaba, Blu” to Peter Obi’s Pandora Papers revelations and Atiku Abubakar’s leaked SPV tape.

1: Emilokan

Emilokan (Yoruba for “it is my turn”) became a defining catchphrase for Mr Tinubu’s campaign in June 2022 after he flayed the Muhammadu Buhari regime for attempting to sabotage his presidential bid in the primary elections of the All Progressives Congress. He insisted it was his turn to clinch the party’s ticket, saying “emi lokan.”

In a meeting with APC delegates in Abeokuta in June 2022, Mr Tinubu said he offered succour and support to Mr Buhari, who cried on television after he lost the presidential election for the third time in a row.

Mr Tinubu referenced an unwritten power arrangement between the North and South, implying he also expected Mr Buhari to reciprocate the same support for his 2023 presidential ambition.

“I didn’t beg him for contracts, I never begged him for garri, I never begged him for fura and I never borrowed money from him,” Mr Tinubu said of Mr Buhari’s administration. “But I insisted it is Yoruba’s turn and when it comes to Yoruba it is my turn (Emi lokan).”

Emilokan caught on among Nigerians with sharply divided opinions. Supporters hailed Mr Tinubu as an elder statesman who had paid his dues in supporting other candidates and deserved to become the nation’s number one citizen.

Others castigated Mr Tinubu, saying that the presidency was not his birthright.

Afrobeats artistes like Qdot, Eedris Abdulkareem and Joseph Olusola hopped on the trend to release separate songs titled Emilokan.

2: A town hall different from “Bala Blu, Blu, Bulaba”

Although Mr Tinubu put up a ferocious fight for the 2023 presidential election, his campaign was marred by gaffes and word salads that caused the majority of Nigerians to question his mental acuity to hold office.

On one such occasion in Imo State during an APC town hall meeting in November 2022, Mr Tinubu struggled to speak coherently.

“A town hall, different from balablu-blu-bulaba,” said the Nigerian leader, who was at the time a candidate.

Mr Tinubu came under intense ridicule as Nigerians created memes and skits from the misspeak. Mr Tinubu’s supporters, including the aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, dismissed concerns about Mr Tinubu’s health, downplaying it as an attempt at humour.

3: Rented bishops

As concerns over the Muslim-Muslim APC presidential ticket heightened, Mr Tinubu‘s campaign released a video of men in bishop robes endorsing Mr Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, in 2022.

In a desperate attempt to portray that Christian leaders okayed the ticket, Mr Tinubu’s team hired some men and dressed them in bishop cassocks to attend the presentation of Mr Shettima as the APC vice-presidential candidate.

But what was supposed to be a secret arrangement became public knowledge after Mr Tinubu’s team allegedly failed to fulfil their end of the bargain. The fake bishops said they weren’t paid in full for their appearance.

“They came to meet us at the car park behind Eagle Square and they promised to give me N100,000. They bought food for us and took us to another place where they gave us clothes to dress like Christian leaders and reverend fathers,” Joseph Odaudu told The Gazetteshortly after the event in Abuja. “But after we finished they only gave me N40,000 and another person said they got only N30,000. I don’t know why they changed our agreement because they said they had N100,000 for us.”

4: Atiku Abubakar’s deletion of tweet condemning the murder of Deborah Samuel over alleged blasphemy

In 2022, Atiku Abubakar, then a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, deleted a tweet criticising the killing of Deborah Samuel, a Christian student who was lynched over alleged blasphemy.

Ms Samuel was murdered at Shehu Shagari College of Education in May 2022 in a jungle justice-style attack for allegedly asking her colleagues to stop bombarding the class WhatsApp group with Islamic messages.

Her comment triggered the wrath of Islamic fanatics who cornered Ms Samuel, pelted her with stones and poured fuel on her body. She was burnt alive amid jeers over alleged blasphemy.

“There can not be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice,” Mr Abubakar said in the post. “My condolences to her family and friends.”

But the presidential hopeful rushed to delete the post on Facebook and Twitter shortly after Islamic netizens threatened not to cast their vote for him.

Mr Abubakar claimed his media team made the post without his approval.

“This evening I received information that a post was made that doesn’t agree with my orders. I use this to announce that any post without A. A. is not from me. May God protect us,” Mr Abubakar wrote in a follow-up post.

5: “They’re already urinating on themselves”: Rauf Aregbesola’s reaction to a video of Tinubu’s probable urine bag

“Won ti n to ara” was heard punctuating the then interior minister Rauf Aregbesola’s impassioned jabs aimed at Mr Tinubu in a viral video on social media back in February 2022.

Loosely translated from Yoruba, the expression means “they’re already urinating on themselves.”

The remarks came days after The Gazette published a report with video evidence that showed Mr Tinubu’s agbada was soaked behind.

Mr Tinubu had visited the Awujale of Ijebuland, and his agbada appeared soaked behind when he stood before the king.

His security aide also frantically covered his nose, fuelling rumours that an offensive odour might have triggered the reaction.

Speaking at a political gathering in Osun State before the elections, Mr Aregbesola said he was disappointed in his successor, Gboyega Oyetola, whom Mr Tinubu introduced to him.

Then, a faint voice from the crowd jeered: “Won ti n to ara!”

“Won ti n to ara!” Mr Aregbesola also chimed. Then the compere at the event re-echoed Mr Aregbesola’s “Won ti n to ara!” The refrain was in reference to the APC national leader’s disquieting outing in Ijebu Ode.

Mr Aregbesola would later apologise and beg for Mr Tinubu’s forgiveness, describing him as the “architect of his success.”

In September 2022, a photo emerged from Mr Tinubu’s camp in which he wore an inner device believed to be a ‘catheter bag’ to expel urine, further raising questions about his frail health status ahead of the elections.

A catheter is a device that collects urine into a drainage bag through an attached tube. It is typically used by people who cannot naturally pass urine.

The photo was a proof-of-life image to douse concerns about Mr Tinubu’s whereabouts, especially given that he had not been seen in public for about six months before the presidential elections.

6: Osinbajo should be selling gala and popcorn: Shettima

Then vice-presidential candidate of the APC, Kashim Shettima, threw jabs at his predecessor, Yemi Osinbajo, for throwing his hat in the ring and contesting for the ruling party’s presidential ticket.

Mr Shettima mocked Mr Osinbajo as a “nice man” who was unworthy to be president.

The former Borno governor said Mr Osinbajo was more suited to sell ice cream and gala, a popular beef snack in Nigeria.

“Osinbajo is a good man. He is a nice man. But nice men do not make good leaders. Because nice men tend to be nasty. Nice men should be selling popcorn, ice cream,” Mr Shettima said.

He later released a statement apologising to the former vice president for his unsavoury remarks.

7: Atiku’s SPV

Mike Achimugu, formerly Mr Abubakar’s close associate, leaked an audio tape of the former vice president admitting that he used Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to steal government funds for himself and former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

In the leaked audio, Mr Abubakar could be heard narrating how he took charge of establishing onshore shell businesses to serve as a conduit for cornering vast amounts from public works contracts for himself and Mr Obasanjo.

“What happened was when we came into office and I advised the president against open corruption,” Mr Abubakar said in the leaked tape. “I told him to give me three people you trust and I will prepare three companies in which they will be subscribers or rather the directors.”

“An SPV is a special-purpose vehicle. It is a company they incorporate to carry out certain activities,” Mr Abubakar said on the tape. “So that if there is any contract that we give they will act like consultants and they are given a fee. That fee is what we use to fund the party.”

Mr Achimugu leaked the tape ahead of the February 2023 elections, saying it was “to warn Nigerians and educate them before the elections to prevent them from making the greatest mistake ever”.

According to Mr Achimugu, “If Nigerians think that they have seen corruption before, let them wait until they make the mistake of voting the Atiku family into office,” Mr Achimugu said in a TVC interview.

Mr Achimugu subsequently switched allegiance to Mr Tinubu, who appointed him as director, public affairs and consumer protection at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in December 2023.

8: Posters of Osinbajo as Judas Iscariot flooded Abuja

As Christian faithful prepared for Easter celebrations in April 2022, campaign posters depicting former vice president Yemi Osinbajo as the biblical Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ, flooded the nation’s capital.

Mr Tinubu’s supporters castigated Mr Osinbajo for challenging his former boss in the 2023 presidential race.

The caption on the poster bearing Mr Osinbajo’s downcast image read: “The Judas betrayed his master. Repent because Jesus is coming.”

Between 1999 and 2007, the vice president served as attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Lagos State under Mr Tinubu, the then governor.

It is also believed that Mr Osinbajo became President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate with the help of Mr Tinubu, a highly influential politician instrumental to their 2015 and 2019 election victories.

He would later lose the APC presidential primary ticket to Mr Tinubu.

9: Pandora Papers featuring Peter Obi

An investigation carried out by over half a thousand journalists across the world, including journalists from Nigeria’s Premium Times, found that Mr Obi went to great lengths to open offshore entities, including Gabriella Investments Limited, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and named after his daughter. Findings from the investigation were released in 2021.

Mr Obi paid a French company, Access International, to hire nominee directors for the company. These were figurehead individuals paid to sit on the company’s board to conceal the identities of the real owners.

Why Mr Obi, who carries himself as an anti-corruption campaigner, would hire figurehead directors to conceal the offshore entities was not known.

He also failed to disclose the company to the Code of Conduct Bureau as mandated by law for government officials after assuming office.

Asked why, Mr Obi told Premium Times that he didnt know he was supposed to disclose companies he co-owned with his family.

Mr Obi similarly failed to immediately withdraw from directing a private business as stipulated by Section Six of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.

Records indicated that he remained the director of Next International (UK) Limited for over a year after he assumed his governorship duties in Anambra State. He became governor on March 17, 2006, but resigned on May 16, 2008.

He claimed he resigned immediately and gave his wife his resignation letter.

But the UK registry for companies insisted Mr Obi resigned on May 16, 2008, adding that the notice was filed online on June 16, 2008.

Mr Obi is contesting again in the 2027 presidential polls, this time under the Nigeria Democratic Congress. He chose former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso as his running mate.

10: God bless PD-APC

Among the countless gaffes synonymous with Mr Tinubu’s campaign was when the then APC presidential candidate goofed during the flag-off of his candidacy in Jos, Plateau.

Ending his speech at the rally in November 2022, Mr Tinubu, to the surprise of supporters, said, “God bless Nigeria. God bless PD…,” before retracing his speech to say “APC”.