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Buhari, Yar'adua And The Sense Of Deja Vu by Eggheaded(m): 12:23am On May 22, 2017 |
With a gait less graceful, the
gaunt figure dressed in a dark
grey kaftan with a matching cap
unhurriedly climbed down from
the aircraft. A momentary,
studied smile formed on his face
as he made a cursory glance at
those who had come to welcome
him after spending 49 days in an
undisclosed London hospital in
the United Kingdom.
That was President Muhammadu
Buhari returning from his medical
leave since January 23 this year
– he got back into the country on
March 10.
“I couldn’t recall being so sick
since I was a young man,
including in the military with its
ups and downs. I couldn’t recall
when last I had blood
transfusion. I couldn’t recall
honestly; I can say in my 70
years (sic),” the President had
said at a meeting he held with
top government officials led by
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
shortly after he arrived the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Today, voices within the ruling
party, the All Progressives
Congress, and the opposition,
are wary that Buhari’s state of
health and goings-on in the
Presidency are more than meet
the eye.
Few days ago, the National
Caretaker Committee of the
Peoples Democratic Party
alleged that a cabal is now ruling
Nigeria.
Prior to the PDP’s public
outburst, members of the Arewa
Consultative Forum and Arewa
Youth Consultative Forum also
expressed grave concerns about
the possibility of some people in
Aso Villa taking advantage of the
President’s ill-health to the
detriment of the country.
Prominent personalities like Prof.
Wole Soyinka and Femi Falana
have also called the number one
citizen to take a break and hand
over power to his deputy, Prof.
Yemi Osinbajo.
Though there is nothing unusual
in Buhari being sick, the former
ruling party said what was wrong
was his refusal to disclose his
true state of health.
“It is now certain that the country
is now being ruled by a cabal.
Members of the cabal are not
known. Who is in charge of the
country now? We don’t know.
Nigeria is now on autopilot. We
don’t know who is rocking the
country and who exactly is
churning out orders or exercising
the executive powers of the
President anymore.
“This can’t happen in saner
climes. We have a President
who has not been seen in public
for some days and the
government is not worried,”
spokesperson for the Senator
Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker
committee, Dayo Adeyeye, said.
Mounting pressure on Buhari
also is an association of political
pressure groups, under the aegis
of Free Nigeria Coalition, who
called on Buhari to “urgently
seek medical attention of his
doctors in the United Kingdom
and take some deserved rest.”
Just like Buhari, former President
Umaru Yar’Adua – who hailed
from Katsina State like the
incumbent – was “so sick” in the
twilight of his administration.
With a tragic end, the former
president lost to death in a
mortal battle over his protracted
illness.
Prior to Yar’Adua’s death, not a
few people had called for his
resignation or impeachment,
among who were the former
Governor of Lagos State,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Buhari
himself.
Ten years ago, Tinubu, a leading
opposition voice, had on January
18, 2010, called on Yar’Adua to
step down as the country’s
president.
“Now our dear country is living
on the edge and hanging
dangerously with FEC adrift,
while the National Assembly has
lost touch with reality; and the
word ‘national exigency’ has
since lost meaning to the
remnants of the ruling party
(Peoples Democratic Party).
Therefore, the President
(Yar’Adua) must be told, without
further delay, to transmit his
authority to Vice President
Goodluck Jonathan to take
charge of the country, in
accordance with Section 145 of
the Constitution.
“I recognise his love for his
country but this is the time to
show that love for his country by
putting the nation’s interest
above self, and not be misled by
those selfish advisers. He has
already made history be being
elected as President of Nigeria.
So, he must not destroy that
democratic institution from which
he has benefitted,” he had said.
About two months after Tinubu’s
painstaking statement,
specifically on Tuesday, March 9
– reclined in a couch, in his
Kaduna home – playing host to
chieftains of the National Unity
Forum, who had paid him a visit,
the former military head of state
and then presidential candidate
of the All Nigeria Peoples Party
in the 2003 and 2007
presidential elections, Buhari,
made a call that made front-
page headlines the following
day.
He had reportedly called for the
impeachment of Yar’Adua.
According to Buhari back then,
impeaching the former Katsina
State governor could save the
country from the political
impasse Yar’Adua’s lingering ill-
health had caused.
In sheer fervour, Buhari called
on the Federal Executive Council
to save the nation from the
political logjam by declaring
Yar’Adua incapacitated, arguing
that such declaration would pave
the way for his impeachment by
the National Assembly.
Condemning the failure of the
FEC and federal legislative body
to impeach Yar’Adua, Buhari
said, “Political expediency won’t
remedy this kind of problem
because if the FEC had acted in
accordance with the constitution,
by invoking the necessary
sections to declare the President
incapacitated, we would not
have found ourselves in this
present situation.
“As you can see, adopting extra-
constitutional measures have not
addressed the problem. If it had,
we would not have been
subjected to the raging debates
and controversy going on. So,
we must go back to the
constitution. FEC must do the
right thing, because once we
start moving away from the
constitution, then we are inviting
anarchy.”
A prominent member and ex-
spokesman for the ACF,
Anthony Sani, told SUNDAY
PUNCH that what occurred in
2010 concerning Yar’Adua is
different from what is playing out
in the Villa at the moment.
“President Buhari cannot resign
or be impeached as he advised
President Yar’Adua to do. This is
because when the same Buhari
asked Yar’Adua to resign or be
impeached, it was because
Yar’Adua had breached the
constitution by not writing to the
National Assembly notifying
them of his health challenges.
“As a result, there was no acting
president while the president
was not on seat. Most of all,
Jonathan, the FEC and the
NASS were kept in the dark of
what happened in the seat of
power. It was against this
backdrop that Buhari asked
President Yar’Adua to resign or
be impeached,” Sani argued.
Last Tuesday, the media was
awash with a chieftain of the
ruling party, Chief Bisi Akande’s
ominous statement warning of
such anarchy in view of Buhari’s
failing health.
In the statement, Akande had
said, “These are two great red
flag dangers that have the
potential of plunging the country
into unprecedented chaos and of
destabilising the gains of
democracy since 1999. The
greatest danger, however, is for
political interests at the corridor
of power attempting to feast on
the health of Mr. President in a
dangerous manner that may
aggravate the problems between
the executive and the National
Assembly without realising if, in
the end, it could drag the entire
country into avoidable doom.
“Let me warn today that those
who wish to harvest political
gains out of the health of the
president are mistaken. This is
not Nigeria of 1993. My greatest
fear, however, is that the country
should not be allowed to slide
into anarchy and disorder of a
‘monumental proportion.’”
The ACF chieftain does not think
there any cause for alarm. He
feels that since Buhari had
already put the National
Assembly and the nation on
notice concerning his
deteriorating health, it is fair that
everyone allow the President to
rest.
Sani added, “While I appreciate
the sympathy and the concern of
Chief Akande which comes with
past experiences when a group
called ‘cabal’ in the Presidency
kept the nation in the dark about
health challenges of President
Yar’Adua, and what happened in
the seat of power which resulted
in the introduction of doctrine of
necessity to overcome the
problems by making Jonathan
acting president in the absence
of a letter from Yar’Adua, it is
very important to note that the
situations are not the same.
Also, Akande’s reference to
1993 is misplaced. I do not think
there is cause for alarm.”
A president who wrote and
handed power to Osinbajo, and
who on return told the nation that
he had never been “so sick” in
his life, the northern elder
argued, is not the kind of person
who will allow some people to
take advantage of his sickness
and manage the presidency by
proxy.
In January, the President had left
Nigeria for the United Kingdom
for what the Presidency
described as “a short leave”
during which he was to undergo
“routine medical check-up.”
He was expected to resume
work on February 6 – that
medical check-up was the third
by Buhari in one year; the
President had earlier embarked
on a six-day leave in London
between February 5 and 10,
2016; following that, on June 6,
2016, he jetted out of the
country for another 10 days
allegedly to treat an ear
infection.
The last public event attended by
Buhari was the grand finale of
the 2017 Armed Forces
Remembrance Day held at the
National Arcade, Abuja. Since
his return in March also, the
President has hardly appeared in
public.
Buhari may not listen to those
calling for his resignation, or take
a pill he had offered Yar’Adua in
2010, but he promised that, “The
best way for me to repay you all
is to rededicate myself to serving
you, protecting your interests
and keeping your trust. I am
feeling much better now; there
may, however, be need to have
further follow-ups within some
weeks.”
That assurance was re-echoed
by the Minister of Information
and Culture, Lai Mohammed,
when he said, “He (the
President) is following his
doctor’s advice. Mr. President
himself told the nation he has
never been this sick and he is
going to take it easy. He said it
from day one when he came
back from the UK.
“So, I don’t think there is
anything that is out of place from
what he said. He has been quite
transparent and upfront in the
matter concerning his health.”
As the controversy concerning
Buhari’s health rages on, the
President has left Nigeria again,
for the UK for treatment— this
time around he gave no date of
his return.
“The length of the President’s
stay in London will be
determined by the doctors,” a
statement issued by his Special
Adivser on Media and Publicity,
Femi Adesina, had said.
punchng |
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