Again, who’s in charge in Nigeria
The first lady, Aisha Buhari, has, once more, drawn the attention of Nigerians to the rape of democracy happening right inside Aso rock and the cowardice of Nigeria’s political elite to confront the situation head-long, preferring to play along so long their nests are feathered. She revealed that two persons – perhaps unelected and unappointed – control the government and frustrate her husband, thereby limiting his ability to perform to the expectation of millions who voted him into office. She made the assertion at a national women leadership summit organised by a political group, Project 4+4 for Buhari & Osinbajo 2019.
Hear her:
“Our votes were over 15 million in the last election, and after that only for us to be dominated by two people that hinders collective team work that we started, which is totally unacceptable,” she said.
“If 15.4 million people can bring in a government, and only for the government to be dominated by two people; where are the men of Nigeria? Where are the Nigerian men? What are you doing? Instead of them to come together and fight them, they kept visiting them one after the other, licking their shoes. I am sorry to use that word.”
Regardless of Mrs Buhari’s intentions of raising the alarm, the revelation still raises the question we have asked numerous time: Who is really in charge in Nigeria?
Sometime in March, it emerged that 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.” But even after the president knew and said publicly the IGP disobeyed him, the IGP still retained his position and even dismissed insinuations from some presidency sources that he was ever queried for disobeying the president’s orders.
Similarly, last year, the Senate twice rejected the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by President Muhammadu Buhari all 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.” After the first refusal, the president ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to investigate the validity of the allegations. No report was ever made public on the investigation but the president re-nominated Mr Magu and the DSS again gave a damning report of Magu leaving the Senate with no option other than to reject Magu’s nomination again.
Curiously, both the EFCC and the DSS are agencies under the presidency and they both report to the president. Interestingly, the DSS was then headed by Buhari’s trusted kinsman from Daura, Lawal Musa Daura, recalled from retirement to head the agency. The whole country was baffled that the DSS that constitutionally reports to the president could directly undermine the president and presidential authority so blatantly without any consequence.
Perhaps, it is the boldness gained from overriding the president that emboldened Lawal Daura to order the invasion of the National Assembly by fully armed and hooded DSS operatives earlier in the month to enable a leadership change without any authorisation. Many analysts believed Daura could still have gotten away with it were the president not away in London and Yemi Osinbajo acting as President at the time. With Buhari’s return, there have been reports that he is under tremendous pressure to reinstate Daura to his position.
The existence of a strong cabal that controls Aso Rock has been an open secret. The President’s wife, again alluded to the existence of such a group who “don’t know our party manifesto…don’t know what we campaigned for…” but who have now hijacked her husband’s presidency and are steering it in the direction of they so decide. So strong were the rumours that his nephew, Mamman Daura, was in charge of his administration that the president, in 2016, had to offer a rebuttal insisting he, and not Daura, was in charge. Analysts and behavioural Psychologist insist that when a leader is forced to issue such a rebuttal, it is most likely the allegation is true. For what president – and a former military general at that who is well versed in matters of command and authority – will allow his direct appointees to continually defy his authority without consequences? What president will be unaware for two months that his appointee defied him even when the news was everywhere and virtually all citizens knew about it? Does that not tell of a president with limited ability to function and is walled-off from happenings in the country he is supposed to be leading?
Nigerians must come to terms with the bitter truth: Nigeria is under the grips of some vicious power-hungry cabal who are desperate to continue to wield awesome powers without responsibility by propping up a president fast diminishing in ability and health. They have to determine whether they will accept this illegal power grab or get back power and hand it to those who would wield it on behalf of the people and be accountable to them.