By Ikechukwu Amaechi
It is extremely difficult to understand why President Bola Tinubu takes delight in insulting Nigerians at every turn. Or how else can one explain most of his actions other than that of a leader who does not care a hoot about what the people think or feel?
A few weeks ago, it was the issue of presidential pardon. It beggared belief that a president would demean a constitutional instrument, designed not only to temper justice with mercy but also give the Nigerian state a human face with the axiomatic milk of kindness flowing underneath near infinite executive powers.
Rather than hoisting justice on the totem pole of earned mercy, the initial list of 175 beneficiaries was populated by individuals convicted of grave crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption. In fact, almost 30 per cent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related crimes. Granted, after days of sustained public outrage, the list was pruned to 120. Tinubu’s acolytes insist that the review of the original list was proof that he is a listening president. Maybe! But it says a lot about his value orientation.
But even as Nigerians were smarting from that embarrassing lapse of judgement, the president has scored another own goal, this time with the release of a list of 32 ambassador-designates that will be posted to some of the country’s 109 global missions.
In rectifying the errors in the prerogative of mercy list, the president, ever Teflon, blamed everybody else but himself. Bayo Onanuga, his special adviser on information and strategy, said in a statement on Wednesday, October 30, that the move became necessary in view of the seriousness and security implications of some of the earlier forgiven offences and the need to be sensitive to the feelings of the victims of the crimes and society.
Noting that Tinubu had directed the immediate relocation of the secretariat of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, PACPM, from the Ministry of Special Duties to the Ministry of Justice, Onanuga said his principal had directed Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, to issue appropriate guidelines for the exercise, henceforth.
The impression was that, hitherto, there were no appropriate guidelines for the exercise. Nothing could be farther from the truth. To be sure, the power, rooted in Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution, established an unambiguous process that requires a convicted person or their representative submitting a written application to the Attorney-General’s office. The application is then reviewed by the PACPM, which considers various factors, including the nature of the offence, age, health condition, period of incarceration, good behaviour, and evidence of remorse and rehabilitation potential.
It is only after this process has been concluded that the president exercises the power after consultation with the Council of State. Even after that, there is yet a final administrative and legal review which is conducted by the Attorney-General’s office to ensure that all legal and procedural requirements are met before the formal instrument of release is issued.
So, that Tinubu deemed it necessary to pardon the category of convicts that were undeserving was not because of the absence of appropriate guidelines but a reflection of the values that inform his policy choices.
And that is exactly what he has done again with his vexatious ambassadorial appointments. Recall that on September 2, 2023, three months after assuming office as president, Tinubu recalled all ambassadors, both career and non-career.
The only explanation offered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, for the action was that “ambassadors as representatives of the country serve at the behest of the president and it is his prerogative to send or recall them from any country.” Which is true! But to what end?
The recall came just three years after his predecessor, the late Muhammadu Buhari, in July 2020 appointed 41 non-career and 42 career ambassadors to man the nation’s foreign diplomatic missions. They were subsequently deployed after confirmation by the Senate in accordance with section 171(2)(1c) and Subsection 4 of the 1999 Constitution.
Having waited for two years, Nigerians expected that when Tinubu eventually rolls out the list, it will be with a bang. It was a whimper, instead. Like everything under Tinubu’s watch, the list is an anti-climax.
What is worse, agreed, it is the prerogative of the president to nominate ambassadors, but in doing that, he must show Nigerians some respect. By nominating men who cannot withstand integrity scrutiny, just as he did with the prerogative of mercy list, Tinubu is insulting the citizens.
Being an ambassador is a big deal. Why? Because these are people who automatically become the face of the nation in the global community. They are the mirror through which other countries view Nigeria, which explains why countries always put their best foot forward. Besides strong communication skills, countries look out for the pristine qualities of integrity, resilience, sedateness, and right temperament in their ambassadors. It is neither a job for flippant nor short-fused fellows.
To compensate politicians who not only failed woefully as state governors but also bankrupted their states with ambassadorial appointments is a great disservice to the country. It is even worse when it becomes a reward for corruption, which seems to be the case here.
Recall that in April 2017, EFCC said it had discovered $43 million, £27,000 and N23 million stashed in a flat on Osborne Road, Ikoyi, home of one of Tinubu’s nominees, Ayo Oke, former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA. Following reports that the monies belonged to the NIA, in February 2015, a three-man panel headed by former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo indicted Oke and recommended his dismissal from service, which was effected in October 2017. He was subsequently charged to court for money laundering.
It is instructive that on Friday, June 9, 2023 less than two weeks after Tinubu became president, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, applied for the termination of the money laundering case against Oke and Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, obliged the Tinubu government.
And what was the reason for the termination of the case? Administration apologists claim that subjecting Oke to open trial might compromise the nation’s security operations. Today, he has been nominated as an ambassador and going by Onanuga’s claim that the initial three ambassadorial nominees that included Oke, Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are “are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation,” Ambassador Oke is presumably headed for either Washington, London or Paris, arguably three of the most important and strategic diplomatic posts.
But isn’t the Tinubu presidency aware that intelligence officers are never sent to Washington and London as number one; only London and Paris accept persons with intelligence background as Deputy High Commissioners? A retired career ambassador friend of mine quipped last week: “I suspect that the man (Tinubu) nominated three people – Oke, Dalhatu, Are – that will never get Agrément from any of these countries. Besides, I want to see which country will give Agrément for these nominees. That will let us know who rules Tinubu and Nigeria.”
I doubt if Tinubu will nominate these men with the hope that the host countries will help him in doing the dirty job of rejection. It is not always that the ‘Nasir el-Rufai game’ is played.
But the most impudent of all the nominations is that of Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, barely one month after he left office. Could his nomination be redemption of a 2023 debt of gratitude by Tinubu? Whatever, it speaks volumes – contempt and lack of respect for Nigerians who are still scandalised by Yakubu’s shenanigans as INEC boss.
Tinubu’s nominees mirror who he is and his abiding political philosophy. As someone poignantly asked: if he didn’t appoint the likes of Prof Mahmoud, Reno Omokri and Femi Fani-Kayode, people who reflect him in character, attitude, political conduct, and the elasticity of principles, who else? In all Tinubu does, politics trumps governance, strengthening his hold on power, rather than promoting common good. And even if that translates to insulting Nigerians, so be it. Or how else can it be explained that someone like Reno Omokri is being rewarded with an ambassadorial post for ethnic-baiting Ndigbo?
*Amaechi is the publisher of TheNiche
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