Power vacuum in Nigeria

Last week it emerged for two months, the president did not know that the Inspector General of Police disobeyed his direct orders for him to relocate to Benue state to stop the killings by herdsmen in the state. The IGP stayed only one day in Benue state and relocated to Nasarawa. “It is only now that I am hearing this. But I know that I sent him here, Buhari retorted in shock to General Atom Kpera (rtd) who pointedly challenged him that the IG did “not do the work you sent him. He stayed for less than 24 hours in Benue and relocated to Nasarawa, and then said what he saw was a mere communal clash…” but the news was everywhere and we are constantly told the president listens to news and reads Nigerian newspapers.
Last year also the Senate, rejected the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by President Muhammadu Buhari on the advice of the Department of State Security (DSS) that he (Magu) “has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration.” The president subsequently ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to investigate the validity of the allegations. We did not know what became of the allegation but the president re-nominated Mr Magu and the DSS gave a damning report of Magu again and the Senate had no option but to reject his nomination a second time.
Beyond the drama, accusations and counter-accusations, one thing is becoming clear: Nigeria’s presidency is in disarray and there appears to be no clear authority in charge. With Mr Buhari increasingly succumbing to old age and ill health, and with his refusal to delegate substantial powers to his deputy, a serious power vacuum seems to be developing, which is being ruthlessly exploited by those around Mr Buhari to pursue their selfish agendas. One could recall the clash between the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama over the latter’s advice on Nigerians not to travel to the US till the Trump administration clarifies its immigration policies.
Both the EFCC and the DSS are agencies under the presidency and they both report to the president. And Buhari, in keeping with his provincial and clannish worldview, appointed his trusted kinsman, Lawal Musa Daura as Director General of the DSS. It remains baffling therefore why the DSS will continue to undermine the president and presidential authority in such blatant manner. If the first advice to the Senate to reject Magu’s nomination was an error or as a result of inter-agency infightings, then the problems should have been completely resolved before his second nomination. But alas, it wasn’t. The second advice to the Senate by the DSS, according to an analyst, “is the clearest indicator that presidential authority has indeed crumbled and the president’s subalterns are playing their various games irrespective of the wishes and desires of the president.” He continued: “presidential authority is about the power to take decisions, to give directives and to enforce compliance to the said decisions and directives. When a president gives directives and state institutions under his authority take actions to nullify the directive, the implication is that they feel no compulsion to obey the president and that is a bad sign about the exercise of authority.
And if Daura could do this to his kinsman, the president, we can only imagine what he will do to an Acting President or any other authority in the country.

The import of these for presidential authority is clear: president Buhari is increasingly losing the ability to perform the functions of the president, and as more appointed and elective officials realise this, they will seek to ruthlessly exploit the vacum to pursue their own personal/selfish interests leading to confusion, anarchy and the proliferation of grand corruption. whichever way we look at it, this cannot be good for the country!