BusinessDay 04 Feb 2018

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C002D5556 14 BD SUNDAY Sunday 04 February 2018 Politics 2019: More trouble for Buhari as plots thicken to unseat him INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja The clouds appear to be gathering around President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the allegations of non-performance and inability to redeem promises made during the electioneering in 2015. Among other Nigerians who have verbalised their frustration, Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, had issued a damning statement, in Abeokuta, penultimate Tuesday, reeling out alleged incompetence, nepotism, clannishness and corruption of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. Obasanjo had urged the president not to seek re-election ahead of the 2019 general election. Although Buhari has not made official his intention to seek re-election, the Obasanjo’s missive triggered a flurry of activities by differing political groups and parties in the country in quick successions that seem to have coalesced into a huge opposition to the re-election bid of President Buhari and the APC. On Thursday, January 25, 2018, about 30 political parties under the aegis of the Coalition for a New Nigeria (CNN) met in Abuja to marshal plans on how to dislodge the President and the ruling party. The CNN, which announced its existence on July 24, 2017, said that President Buhari has failed to take decisive actions on the incessant killings across the country, the fuel shortage that hit the country and the economic hardship ravaging the country. On Tuesday, January 30, the coalition met in Abuja to consolidate and strengthen their resolve to displace Buhari and the APC. Some of the political parties in the coalition include National Conscience Party (NCP), Africa Democratic Congress (ADC), Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA), Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) Labour Party (LP), People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN) and Action Alliance (AA). Others are; Alliance for Democracy (AD) Democratic People’s Party (DPP), People’s Democratic Change (PDC) and Better Nigeria People’s Party (BNPP). Others are National Action Council (NAC), United Democratic Party (UDP), and Democratic Alternative (DA). Spokesperson of the coalition, Tanko Yunusa, who is also the national chairman of the National Conscience Party President Buhari Obasanjo (NCP), told a news conference that “this has become necessary due the dynamic situation of our politics, which needs urgent intervention to save the country from anarchy and give direction for our democratic survival towards the 2019 general election.” Yunusa also told BDSUN- DAY in an interview that Buhari is not fit to continue as President, warning Nigerians not to make the mistake of reelecting Buhari. “There is no doubt that Buhari has a right to contest the election but the truth is that strength, physical presence, ability to think outside the box and the capacity to think on how to rejuvenate this economy into practical terms that will be advantageous to the Nigerian people, have eluded President Buhari. He does not have that capacity any more therefore he should not push himself more than what he had already done,” he said. He added that Buhari should be thinking of how to go and rest and give room to a younger person to take charge of Nigeria stressing that another four years under Buhari can be more ‘chaotic’ for Nigeria. He said further that those urging the president to run in 2019 do not mean well for Nigeria. Now, there is another group that emerged from the blues but nevertheless formidable judging by the array of individuals within its folds- the National Intervention Movement (NIM). They appear as radical in their position as they are forceful against the continuation of the APC even as they also rejected the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). NIM is clamouring for a “Third Force” a movement of national restoration, with focus on creating a new political paradigm to save the nation from its crisis of values by snatching power from the APC and the PDP. Although not yet a political party, NIM is currently being led by OlisaAgbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Jhalil Tafawa Balewa. Other prominent members of the group include former Minister of Education and World Bank Vice-President, Oby Ezekwesili; former Cross River governor, Donald Duke; former Governor of Central
Sunday 04 February 2018 C002D5556 SUNDAY BD 15 Politics “There is no doubt that Buhari has a right to contest the election but the truth is that strength, physical presence, ability to think outside the box and the capacity to think on how to rejuvenate this economy into practical terms that will be advantageous to the Nigerian people, have eluded President Buhari. He does not have that capacity any more therefore he should not push himself more than what he had already done” Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Charles Soludo; renowned economist and former presidential aspirant, Pat Utomi as well as former Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), IssaAremu. NIM also parades notable names on its legal team, such as human rights activists, Femi Falana; constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome as well as Femi Aborishade, Osagie Obayuwana, Jiti Ogunye, Ebun Adegboruwa and Mohammed Fawehinmi. …Obasanjo as the biggest threat to Buhari’s second term ambition BDSUNDAY gathered that the biggest threat to Buhari’s ambition is a coalition being organised by former President Obasanjo. BusinessDay had reported a story based on the accounts of reliable political insider, who gave a prelude to Obasanjo’s statement and how the plots have matured to show President Buhari the exit door by major power brokers in the country, who the source said are fed up with Buhari’s deluge of misdeeds. The source had told our correspondent on Monday, January 22, a day before Obasanjo issued the statement that five prominent Nigerians, who hold the political fortunes of the country under wraps have already made up their mind to unseat Buhari in much the same way they bundled former President Goodluck Jonathan out of power in 2015. He noted that the big cabal, led by the most senior member, Obasanjo, also has a former Minister of Defence, two former military leaders of the country and a former National Security Adviser (NSA). The former leaders according to the report were said to be irked that while the country is suffering from general insecurity, pervasive economic hardship, corruption among other vices, Buhari has no clue as to how to address the crises and has consistently remained aloof while the ship of the Nigerian state totters. They were said to be more enraged that while the people of Benue state were mourning 73 people that were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen, Buhari was busy entertaining endorsement from seven governors urging him to run for reelection in 2019. That level of insensitivity is unbelievable the source said. Then the picture became clearer on Tuesday, January 23, when Obasanjo released the statement accusing Buhari of nepotism and unprecedented level of clannishness. He said “the lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality are still with us today.” He further accused Buhari of causing disaffection in the country with his divisive polices and lopsided appointments, adding that the president has lost the capacity to continue as president and advised him not to seek reelection in 2019. Obasanjo has swung into action where he was said to have started mobilising politicians and other Nigerians to sign on to his Coalition for Nigeria project, to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from being re-elected. As at Friday last week, about seven governors and 25 senators are said to have keyed into the Obasanjo ‘rescue project’ and a massive strategy is in place for a mass movement away from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and his former party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which he described as “wobbling” and unfit to run Nigeria. Olise Agbakoba Bolaji-Abdullahi Although, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has issued a statement to refute the Obasanjo bombshell when he reeled out the achievements of the Buhari government in different areas, the PDP in a reaction by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, berated the government for bandying development figures that are not reflecting in any positive ways in the country citing the widespread, hunger, insecurity, unemployment and nepotism of the Buhari administration as evidence of the ‘failures’ of the government. He said that his party is open to alliance with other political parties to unseat Buhari in 2019 … Internal bickering in APC that may destroy Buhari Buhari may also suffer alleged subterranean move being mounted by members of his own party the APC. A source, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that many of the party members are not happy with the way Buhari is running the government especially his lopsided appointments in favour of his Hausa/ Fulani ethnic group. He cited the appointments in the security agencies, where virtually all the appointed heads are mostly northerners and almost all Muslims. He also cited the recent appointments in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which heavily favoured the north. “In the history of this nation, at no time did we have this kind nepotism practiced unapolo- getically by a Nigerian leader, who came to power using a national platform. This kind of attitude will surely not help the President and he has to address the matter before it is too late,’’ he said. The battle of wits, the manipulations and maneuvers have already suffused the political landscape of the country especially the seeming interminable forces being fused to stop Buhari in 2019. How Buhari survives these even with the enormous power of incumbency at his disposal would most likely be premised on his change of attitude to run more inclusive government and to address the pervasive hunger, unemployment, insecurity as the statistics are surely not kind to him.
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BusinessDay 04 Feb 2018

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