Q: The state of health of President Muhammadu Buhari seems to be shrouded
in secrecy, with his aides giving conflicting remarks. Nigerians are much
worried that the present situation speaks volumes about the
administration’s claim to transparency. What is your take?
A: It is unfortunate. Just as the average politician, what Buhari said
during the campaigns is in conflict with what he does after coming to
power. I sympathise with Nigerians for voting Buhari. Buhari the aspiring
politician and Buhari the incumbent president, if you compare and
contrast what he says with what he does and from that , you can then draw
your own conclusion. As far as I am concerned, a lot of what we heard
from Buhari, from his friends, from the leading members of the party was
sloganeering and that unfortunately hasn’t helped him. What we are hearing
now is an attempt to hide the truth from Nigerians and much more confound
his problem. It shows that quite a number of people who are either cronies
or friends of Buhari who helped him to government, whatever it is, have
nothing to do with the party which is supposed to be the ruling party.
So, they have clearly messed up and I knew they were going to mess up and
I said. It is nothing but an indication of the fractured nature and lack
of principle of our leaders and it is still the same principle which has
encumbered a lot of meaningful intentions to deliver Nigeria.
The media aides have insisted that President Buhari reserves the right to
or not to address Nigerians from his London, where he is having his
vacation. Do you align with that submission?
I think that is an irresponsible statement from people who claim to speak
on behalf of the president. Frankly speaking, he reserves the right to
talk or not to talk to the people as Buhari, the person, but not as the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He owes allegiance to the
people who lined up and voted for him to be the president of Nigeria. This
isn’t a personal matter. What Nigerians are asking Buhari to do is what
any responsible people will ask their leader to do. If Buhari talks to
Nigerians to assure them that he is alive, even if he is frail, he isn’t
doing Nigerians any favour. In fact, it is the right of Nigerians to know
about their president. If he is living as a private man in his village in
Daura or Kaduna, nobody will care. He is today, by the grace of God and,
of course, the votes of Nigerians, the president. This cannot be reversed
and in fact, it is absolutely absurd for people who haven’t won election,
who cannot organise a ward election, whether as members of a cabal,to be
making the pronouncement they are making on behalf of Buhari.
Frankly speaking, I find that disgusting and disgraceful and I want to
assure you that whether Buhari is well enough to talk or not well enough
to talk, from what his conditions are today, those spokespersons cannot
claim to speak on behalf of Buhari, because occasionally they don’t have
the true picture . I recall one of them saying he has never had any
private audience with Buhari since becoming Buhari’s aide.
That throws more light on the kind of president we have. We have a
president who doesn’t have a friend, outside the North and that’s a
tragedy. Nigeria’s president must be a man who is nationally and
internationally exposed, who appreciates people and feels comfortable with
people no matter their religion or ethnic background. That’s not the case
with Buhari. Though that doesn’t make him a good or bad president, we
need somebody who is sufficiently confident of himself, so that the
country can move forward.
Q: Are you insinuating that the president suffers from inferiority complex?
A: I didn’t use those words; those are your words! I am too old in this
game . I don’t have problem with that, whether it is an issue of complex
or not. The truth is that Buhari as a man has issue relating with people
he isn’t comfortable with. People he is comfortable with represents a tiny
minority of Nigerians and as far as I am concerned, you don’t have to see
yourself either as an Hausa man or a Moslem. None of those makes you
eligible for the office because the Constitution didn’t say you have to be
an Hausa or a Moslem to be the president of Nigeria. The requirements for
being president are there in the Constitution. Go and read them. Being of
a certain faith or ethnic background isn’t a qualification for being the
president of Nigeria.
Q: Talking about the cabal, would you say the acting president is
effectively in-charge, because there has been speculation that he has to
contend with a certain cabal within the precinct of the Presidential
Villa?
A: Look, even if Buhari’s own biological son is given the mantle of
leadership, he is going to have to confront with the reality of the cabal.
The fact is that this cabal doesn’t represent the interest of Nigeria. If
you believe you have a problem, the fact is we expect that you are going
to do something about it. Now, Nigeria is trapped because the President of
Nigeria hasn’t been Buhari, but one man called, Mamman Daura. In his
entire life, he has never won an election and the only opportunity he had
was when in the old Kaduna State, he wanted to be a senator from Kaduna or
Katsina and some people wanted Mamman Daura to pick the ticket. The people
in Daura and eastern part of Kaduna said they were prepared to concede
that senatorial seat to somebody from Daura, even though they are in the
minority, but that they wouldn’t accept Mamman Daura as the person. So, he
has never won an election.
Why would somebody like that, who is a relation of Buhari, assume the
office over and above Buhari that Nigerians voted for?
That’s the point. Number two, some of the appointments which have now
become a disaster made by Buhari , that include the Chief of Staff, Abba
Kyari and the Secretary to Government of the Federation. Buhari has made a
mistake of conceding sensitive positions in his government to people who
are neither politicians nor technocrats. They see their appointment as a
life time opportunity and that’s why the cabal is a problem to Nigeria
today. It isn’t a problem for Osinbajo; the acting president himself is in
a very tricky situation and I don’t know much about him. But from the way
he is handling issues and from the way he has started dealing with some of
the people who are above everybody, that’s the cabal, then if he succeeds,
there is the likelihood that Nigeria will succeed. But we have a
precarious situation, whereby the elected president is infirm,
incapacitated. He is out of the country physically and he has written a
letter to concede all his powers to the vice- president who now becomes
acting president.
If we continue with this situation, perhaps some sanity can be brought
back, but the plan of the cabal is to bring back Buhari from London. If
they bring him back to Nigeria they can do a lot of things in the name of
the president and they will be claiming it is the president! So, they are
now so desperate to bring him back at all costs even if his condition
doesn’t warrant his return. In fact, he cannot afford to come back now as
president of Nigeria.
Q: But the SGF, Babachir Lawal, has said his boss is very fit and would be
seeking a fresh mandate in 2019.
A:But we have had this kind of statement before. I remember Chief Tony
Anenih said the same thing as regards the presidency of both Chief
Obasanjo and Jonathan, but the will of the people must be respected. In
fact, there is going to be an election in 2019 and if Buhari were to be in
good health and contest, I am sure he will lose and if he attempts to rig
the election, there will be violence in this country. So, as far as I am
concerned, I won’t dignify the comment of the SGF with any response,
because who was Babachir Lawal, until he was picked from nowhere and made
the SGF by Buhari? What has been his performance since becoming the SGF
and what is the justification for his statement on 2019 presidency? The
man has no quantum of experience as a civil servant.
Q: There have been startling revelations from the Senate regarding crude
oil lifting. According to its findings, there is no record of crude oil
lifting from May 2015 till date. How do you reconcile that with this
administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability in
governance?
A: I have said it earlier, that what politicians say shouldn’t be believed
unless it is backed by what they do. Apparently, since they have made
claim of transparency and with this kind of thing, they should have made
frantic move to explain the situation. What it means is that from June
2015 till date, a lot of terrible things have happened. I expect them to
react to this, but if they don’t want to respond, then we must be
prepared to go through the excruciating process to recover our money,
otherwise the country is going to be run permanently prostrate until
something happened. We are talking about billions of dollars not accounted
for.
Q: Finally, each time you criticise this administration, what is the kind
of feedback you get?
A: I don’t, because the president himself, it is either he isn’t in charge
or he doesn’t consider the issue worth commenting on. And when they
comment, it is at variance with what you said. What I expect from them is
to confront fact with fact, not abusing somebody like his aides do .
They know I am saying the truth and I know what I am talking about. I
have been in power in this country since some of these people around Mr.
president are either in primary or secondary school. I am not somebody
who is an entire outsider.
I have served in the national assembly, two terms and I have served in the
executive arm of main stream government and in some of the leading
ministries, departments and agencies of government. So, if somebody wants
to take me on, somebody who has never worked as a clerk in government,
then we are in serious trouble. I don’t see how they can lie their way out
of the situation they have now found themselves.
They said the president went on vacation and later they changed the story.
I remember what an American president, Abraham Lincoln said, that once a
leader has lost the confidence of its citizens it can never regain it. You
can deceive some of the people, some of the time, but you cannot deceive
all the people all the time.
Now, as far as I am concerned, this government has been lying and they
imagine they can succeed in deceiving all Nigerians at the same time.
From all indications, their game is over. As I am talking to you, I am
convinced that President Buhari’s presidency is dead. He may be physically
alive and I wish him good health, but as far as governance is concerned,
his presidency is dead and nothing can be done to resuscitate it. A
presidency can be alive in terms of a leader, but in terms of programmes
and achievements it can be dead and historically forgotten!
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