By Ochereome Nnanna
Within
these twenty months of the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, we have
been privileged to see two “faces” of his presidency. The first face is the
General Muhammadu Buhari character of it, while the second is the Professor
Yemi Osinbajo coloration. These
two faces are dramatically different.
 |
| *Buhari and Osinbajo |
Let
us look at them briefly. Muhammadu Buhari, being the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the man majority of
the Nigerian electorate gave their votes to as the flag bearer of the All
Progressives Congress, APC. Many Nigerians saw him as an experienced leader; a
man of integrity who would fight corruption and secure the nation from Boko
Haram and other security threats, thereby, giving the sluggish economy the
impetus to jumpstart itself back to buoyancy.
At
least, that was the logic his promoters from the Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu presented
before Nigerians. He looked very tailor-made to deliver the “change” the party
promised Nigerians. Some of us had our reservations because we had seen the
other side of him which did not recommend him as the person to lead the country
at this juncture of her march to nationhood.
But
when he assumed the mantle of power, Buhari started confirming our fears about
him, rather than justifying the confidence of his supporters and other unbiased
onlookers. He was slow and sloppy in putting his government together, very much
unlike the experienced leader whom we all expected to swing into action
immediately after being sworn-in. It took him six months to put together his
Federal Executive Council, unlike the new American President, Donald J. Trump,
whose cabinet was already in place as he started work.
Up
till today, Buhari has not fully constituted his government. One of the most
perplexing of Buhari’s failings when it comes to the appointment of people to
crucial positions is the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN) saga. When the former
CJN, Mahmud Mohammed retired in November last year, the National Judicial
Council, NJC, recommended Hon. Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen to Buhari for
onward transmission to the Senate for confirmation.
Rather
than doing so, Buhari swore Onnoghen in as Acting CJN. It was a queer move
which the President, up till today when he is away on medical tourism abroad,
has refused to explain his motive for it. He left us all guessing. Some of us
guessed, against the background of his ethnic and sectional predilections in
loading up the commanding points of the Federal Government with Northern
Muslims, that Buhari did not want a Southerner as CJN.
Perhaps,
he was waiting for three months to elapse, hoping that Onnoghen would retire
and the NJC would cave in and nominate the next in line, Justice Tanko Mohammed
from Bauchi. That would effectively put the leadership of the Legislative,
Executive and Judiciary back in Northern Muslim hands in line with Buhari’s
preferred, nepotism-fed governing template which is against the demands of the
constitution that top positions in government must be shared to reflect the
Federal Character and give all sections a sense of belonging.
