Muhammadu Buhari’s albatross amid changing presidential narratives

pearance of former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina. He had been dismissed from the civil service in 2013 and declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for corruption before Buhari assumed office.

Although the president reportedly ordered Maina’s sack in October 2017, he has remained at large to date! The story on the lips of many is that Maina was smuggled back into the civil service by the Presidency with the alleged tacit support of the Attorney-general of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

These two widely reported corruption cases directly within the Presidency, many argue, are paradoxical to Buhari’s advertised claim of zero tolerance for corruption when juxtaposed with his assertion on March 16, 2016: “I’ll be merciless in pursuing looters.”

The story of Kemi Adeosun’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scandal is another clog that threw up questions as to President Buhari’s sincerity in his avowed fight against corruption in the country. It is one saga, where hundreds of Nigerians took to the various channels of media communication to express outrage, demanding the President’s sincerity in the corruption crusade since taking over the baton of leadership in 2015.

Adeosun herself refused to utter a word concerning the issue while the story trended on various media platforms from June when it broke until September when she tendered her resignation from the cabinet. She thanked the President for his patience and support, while the saga lasted!

Another instance of Buhari’s miscalculations in the thinking of citizens was the appointment of the now sacked DirectorGeneral of Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Musa Daura, who was appointed the sixth head of the secret police on July 2, 2015.

Specifically, Daura, who hails from President Buhari’s hometown, Daura, Katsina State, had served as State Director of the Service in Edo, Imo, Kano, Lagos, Osun, and Sokoto States.

Although he retired from the service in 2013 upon attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60 years, Buhari recalled Daura from retirement after winning the 2015 elections. It was a development, which defied outrage as many people kicked against the propriety of the President appointing someone to such a sensitive position from his hometown given the diversity of the Nigerian society in terms of religion and ethnicity.

IN August 2018, the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, directed the termination of the appointment of the DSS boss in a statement, pointing out that the sack of the security czar was with immediate effect.

Opinion remains divided on whether Osinbajo carried out the sack of Daura against President Buhari’s disposition, especially given the fact that the President officially handed over the reins of office to his deputy before proceeding to a short vacation in London.

The performance of the President and his party, All Progressives Congress (APC) in office these past three and a half years would no doubt form the basis of interparty altercations as the country inches closer to the election year.

That must have informed the recent warning from Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to the effect that if APC must remain in power after 2019, it must go out and aggressively market President Buhari to Nigerians as well as his administration’s projects in the last three years. Governor Bello, who spoke when the President hosted young political appointees to a dinner at the presidential villa, Abuja, said although the President remains the best leader for the country till 2023, the issue of perception was one that must be taken seriously by APC to ensure that no chance is given to the opposition to return to power.

Bello asserted: “As members of the APC, we will not deny that our party has a huge task in the 2019 general elections; the election will never be a walk-over. PDP will not be a push over. And we must take nothing and no one for granted. President Buhari is a good product, we know, but we must go out to sell him to Nigerians. Perception is very critical in times like this. If we fail, God forbid, the ugly narrative of PDP will overtake the land.

“We must market the incredible accomplishments of Mr. President and of his administration to every voter and in a language he or she understands. If we fail, God forbid, the adverse narrative being put out by the PDP and other propaganda machines will dominate the land and shape perception.”

Kogi’s Chief Executive Officer maintained that if “we don’t market our product very well, a tough and progressive victory against a terrorist threat, which continues to cost the lives of our brave military and law enforcement agencies will be mistaken for inactions.”

He contended that marketing the President well should include trying political exposed offenders “using long extant laws, which previous leaders were not willing to deploy against cronies, accomplices, which will be mistaken for extra-judicial measures and disdain for the rule of law.”

Bello, who is seen as one of President Buhari’s allies, added: “If we do not put Mr President’s achievements before our people so that they can sight it themselves, we will be agreeing with the PDP that in fighting corruption which he is offering again, is somehow better than the alleged incompetence of APC which has accomplished everything I have enumerated above.