In Nigeria’s political jungle, it’s rarely the lions outside the camp that pose the greatest threat — it’s the snakes within. For President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the fiercest opposition may not come from the coalition of political parties that have morphed into the new ADC, or the disillusioned masses — but from the very people who surround him. His worst enemies are not in the opposition. They are the ones who shake his hands daily, smile in photographs, and whisper poisonous advice behind palace doors.
These men and women, once trusted with the future of a nation, have built walls around the President — not to protect him, but to isolate him. They’ve cut off patriotic voices and surrounded him with sycophants, driven not by loyalty but by personal ambition. They have become architects of sabotage, manipulating him into making political miscalculations that are now threatening to unravel his presidency.
A Court of Ambition, Not Loyalty
In their blind scramble for power, these courtiers pushed away the truth-tellers — those who could have offered real solutions to Nigeria’s deepening crises. Some of them crave governorships, others party control, and some dream of replacing current appointees. For them, Tinubu is a means to their own ends — not a leader to protect or a legacy to build.
They advised him to abandon Nasir El-Rufai, claiming the former FCT Minister and political heavyweight was “too controversial.” “Get close to Uba Sani instead, El-Rufai will cause trouble,” they said. The result? A fractured political base in the North-West.
They plotted to sideline Vice President Kashim Shettima, whispering that he should be replaced before 2027. Some proposed a Southern Christian as a more “balancing” ticket. But Shettima’s grassroots connection and respect in the North-East were key to the 2023 victory — discarding him would be political suicide.
They urged the President to discard Ganduje, the APC National Chairman and former Kano governor, forgetting how instrumental Ganduje was in neutralizing political threats in Kano and delivering votes in previous elections. Now they paint him as dead weight — ready to toss him overboard to appease critics.
Betrayal of the Buhari Bloc
They convinced Tinubu to ignore nearly all of Buhari’s former ministers, as though experience and loyalty were suddenly a liability. These ministers — from the North-East to the North-West — still hold significant sway in their regions. The result has been a steady erosion of trust and influence across the old Buhari strongholds.
Manufactured Chaos in the Opposition
In their illusion of invincibility, they pushed the President into sowing chaos within every opposition party, convinced that breaking their structures would prevent any challenge in 2027. They helped fracture the PDP, infiltrate Labour Party, and manipulate splinters that weakened other platforms. Now, they believe they have “disrupted the status quo.”
But what they failed to see is that in scattering the opposition, they were unknowingly planting the seeds of something bigger — a more dangerous coalition that has today united under the ADC umbrella. What was once scattered and leaderless is now a storm gathering momentum. From disgruntled Labour Party members to PDP heavyweights and Northern minorities — the new opposition front is coalescing, and it’s no longer about parties. It’s about survival.
Ethnocentric Governance and Delusion of Control
They told him he could sideline the Muslim North. “Unite the South, pacify a few elites, and the rest will fall in line.” They said he could run an ethnocentric administration without consequences. That he could ignore the masses, focus on elections, and buy his way through 2027. “Nothing will happen,” they said again and again.
But today, something is happening.
The People Are Awake
Today, Nigerians are hungry, angry, and united. The street is boiling with rage. The same inner circle that told him to focus on campaigns less than two years into office — that advised him to prioritize power over performance — are now telling him “nothing will happen.” But from the suburbs of Lagos to the streets of Kano, from Delta creeks to Sokoto villages, it is gradually dawning on him: something is happening.
The people have had enough. And for the first time in decades, they are uniting — not around a party, but around a shared pain. That pain is becoming political will.
The Real Threat Lies Within
It’s not the ADC coalition or Labour's rhetoric that poses the gravest threat. It’s not the media or civil society. The real threat lies in the inner circle — the handlers who feed the President lies, cut him off from reality, and gamble with his presidency as though it were a chessboard.
President Tinubu built his legacy through strategic alliances and listening to those who dared to challenge him. If he is to rescue this administration — and his political future — he must break free from the echo chamber, reconnect with the truth, and cast out the wolves in his inner court.
Because the storm they told him would never come… is already here.