It was a period when Governors and their Deputies in the states soon began to behave like quarrelsome housewives – as in Lagos state where Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as he then was, and his Deputy Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele fought each other to a standstill. The latter had to resign in December 2002, and also in Abia State where then Governor Orji Uzor Kalu became a sworn enemy of his Deputy Governor, Enyinnaya Abaribe. Abaribe resigned as Deputy Governor of Abia state on 7 March, 2003. He declared for the All-Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) on whose platform he sought to become Governor and challenge his principal. On March 15, 2003, he was formally impeached by the Abia State House of Assembly. By this time, there were cracks also, already at the Presidential level. Ahead of the April 2003 general elections, the relationship between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Deputy had soured amidst speculations that Atiku Abubakar had become so powerful that he was plotting to displace his boss, Obasanjo as president.

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