Nigeria election 2019: How ‘godfathers’ influence politics

With campaigning well under way for general elections on 16 February, these are the men – and they invariably are men – who pull the strings behind the scenes.

They are political sponsors, who use money and influence to win support for their preferred candidates.

Their “godsons”, it is believed, are not always selected for their political acumen, but rather on their ability to repay and enrich their godfather.

These arrangements have spawned the term “godfatherism”.