A president taken lightly

…also published in Daily Trust

The dramatically unfolding circumstances of the scandalous reinstatement of the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Abdulrasheed Maina represent yet other instances of how some top government officials simply take President Muhammadu Buhari lightly, and, in fact, how they practically run a clandestine government within his government, capitalizing on his apparent reluctance to tackle the growing trend of systematic covert sabotage from within his administration.

This is notwithstanding his subsequent order for immediate reversion to the status quo in Maina’s case, which only came following the public outcry the reinstatement had triggered. Also, this is regardless of whether Maina is guilty or not. After all, apparently, he had some powerful accomplices who therefore want terminate the case by hook or by crook, get him quietly reinstated, or, in the event of failure to achieve these, simply ensure that he pays the whole price alone while they get away with it.

Between Buhari and governors

…also published in Daily Trust

Since the beginning of President Buhari administration, the underlying dynamics of power politics between the president on the one hand, and the state governors on the other have been quietly and steadily changing. Until recently, successive Nigerian presidents and state governors have maintained a mutually serving relationship that has kept their respective political interests quite interdependent.

Usually, for instance, a president serving his first term in office while looking forward to getting reelected to serve his second term in due course, state governors in a similar situation and with a similar ambition, and also outgoing governors serving their second terms and pursuing senatorial ambitions or simply looking forward to remaining politically relevant enough to secure ministerial or ambassadorial appointments, would always maintain such a mutually serving relationship,  of course at the expense of the people.

President’s tacit indictment of Ganduje and others

....also published in Daily Trust

The conspicuous absence of Kano state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his Katsina state counterpart, Aminu Masari among the thirteen governors commended by President Muhammadu Buhari in his National Day address last week, for their contributions towards the steadily growing success of his administration’s economic diversification policy in agriculture, captured the interest of many observers. The thirteen state governors who earned the Presidential commendation were the governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau States.

By implication, this commendation is also a tacit indictment of the other governors. Of course, as Bakano, I am particularly interested in the implications of Governor Ganduje’s absence in the list, being also governor of the ruling All Progressives Congress’s largest stronghold in the country. Governor Masari’s absence is also quite interesting, being governor of President Buhari’s home state i.e. Katsina, which is also arguably the second largest stronghold of the ruling APC.

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state

Now, unsurprisingly, no sooner had the President finished his address than some Ganduje’s critics began to ridicule him and rejoice for what they consider their vindication for insisting that he has failed to live up to expectations. His political opponents from Kwankwasiyya faction of the APC in particular gloated over what they regarded as President Buhari’s show of disappointment in him despite his purported loyalty to him (Buhari). Interestingly, since falling out with his former boss, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, Governor Ganduje has been increasingly portraying and promoting himself as a staunch Buhari loyalist in his apparent attempt to neutralize the looming threat that Kwankwasiyya followers and other disillusioned Kanawa pose against his re-election bid in 2019.