₦airaland Forum

slivertongue:
Buhari was not virtuous as advertised; he was extremely successful at deceiving all of us;

simpleseyi:
So you think a PhD holder in Engineering will deputise a 3rd Class Philosophy graduate?

seunmsg:
This one no go mind his business abi? Oga, respect yourself and stay out of Donald Trump’s business. Na God I take beg you.

In a forceful denunciation, Olorogun Godwin Obire , PhD, chairman of Concerned Nigerians for Better Nigeria (CNBN).

Every hero becomes a bore at last." Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882.

BUHARI was once my hero. In his defence I was involved in uncountable arguments, lost several longtime friends and associates and needlessly savaged President Jonathan on this page from 2011 to 2015.

From 2010 Buhari entered into my pantheon of untouchables occupied by four people - our Mummy Chief (Mrs) Victoria Olayinka Sobowale, Uncle Sam, Obong Victor Attah and Chief Olusegun Osunkeye. For various reasons, they were above reproach from me.
Buhari, it appeared at the time, could solve at least one problem - vastly reduce corruption in government. For that, his well-known jihadist tendencies could be forgiven.

So could his visit to Oyo State to "warn" elected Governor Lam Adesina that herdsmen had a right of movement anywhere in Nigeria. To his everlasting glory, Adesina calmly told the retired general that herdsmen's right of movement ends at the farmers' gates - or any gate for that matter.

Nobody could be happier when he became Presidential election in 2015. The scales fell from my eyes with his first twenty appointments, nineteen Northerners, including seventeen Muslims, and only one Christian Southerner.

As if to make it abundantly clear to everybody, but the deluded and the beneficiaries of his lopsided appointments, that he was determined to run a government of Northerners, by Northerners, all of his subsequent appointments demonstrated his contempt for the principle of Federal Character.

The cabal, consisting of elements from Katsina Stae moved in quickly to capture government. Ordinarily, I would have been too willing to leave Buhari alone; but, the revival of a campaign of deceit to paint him as the only President above reproach must be resisted and countered with evidence for posterity.

The truth must not be buried under a heap of lies and self-deception by those who benefited from his maladministration of Nigeria. Finally, those who ask that we speak nothing disparaging about the dead, need to be reminded that what they are about to read was published while the man was alive.

HYPOCRISY AND LYING WAS HIS GOVERNMENT'S POLICY "Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtues." De La Rochefoucold,1613-1680. Vanguard book of quotations, VBQ, p 96.

Those who seek to ride to power in 2027 by presenting Buhari as a man of integrity, whose robes they intend to wrap around themselves should forget it. The integrity claimed is a figment of their collective and individual imagination.

Buhari was not virtuous as advertised; he was extremely successful at deceiving all of us; especially after becoming President and appointing the best dissemblers government money and power can assemble. He and his promoters forget too easily that records exist of his tenure; which call into question the claims still being made of his integrity.

Below are excerpts from an article published in July 2017 - two years and two months after he started his first term. I challenge anybody to point to any demonstration of integrity in all the instances cited.

Writing under the title: "Hypocrisy, Honesty, Integrity and Leadership", the following facts were revealed. There was more, but three would do for now.

First, as candidate on three previous occasions, Buhari had carpeted Obasanjo, Yar'Adua and Jonathan for maintaining Presidential fleets of aircraft larger than most domestic airlines.

"On May 29, 2015, the former candidate became President. I waited for the Presidential Order - "Get rid of those planes" or "Reduce the size of the Presidential fleet." It never came.

Second, Buhari "never concealed his contempt for leaders who left their health sectors in shambles and went abroad for their own treatment." During the campaigns he promised to establish six world-class centres in order to stop the need to travel abroad for healthcare by Nigerians.

As President, he not only failed to redeem his promises, he went abroad several times for treatment; and eventually died in a London hospital.

Third, nothing else exposed the carefully camouflaged character defects which his Ministers and Special Advisers have been attempting to promote better than his daughter's wedding.

According to a news report, which was not refuted, and video clips by some invitees "GSM sets worth N500,000 each were given away to those who could afford to buy them on their own." Furthermore, the couple met, not in a Nigerian university - private or public - but in Surrey, United Kingdom.

That was the man portrayed as frugal and who cared about the poor who overwhelmingly voted him into office. Character is not like a babanriga which a man can put on and remove as he likes. It is like your skin.

Just as a leopard cannot change his spots and crocodiles would shed tears as they devoured helpless victims, President Buhari was not better than any of his predecessors; and, from information available to me, he is not better than his successor.

UNKEPT PROMISES CONCERNING CORRUPTION, TERRORISTS "Promises, like (cream crackers) are made to be broken." Jonathan Swift, 1677-1745 Breaking promises was routine for "Mr Integrity" - Buhari. He campaigned on ending corruption in government. Among others, he promised to declare his assets if elected. He never did. That was just a tip of the iceberg.

Below is a news report which was emblematic of the Buhari administration. "Jonathan's Ministers behind oil theft - Buhari, PUNCH, July 23, 2015, front page." Buhari said the documents at his disposal indicted some former Ministers and other top government officials of massive fraud including oil theft.

Some former Ministers were selling about one million barrels per day." A few days after being sworn, Buhari released that self-indicting statement. Was it the truth? To begin with, no single Minister or top government official of Jonathan's government was prosecuted for selling one million barrels a day of Nigerian crude in eight years of Buhari presidency.

The question is why not? Surprisingly, the answer to "why not?", can be deduced from the false accusation itself. At a time when Nigeria's crude production was barely 1.4 million, it beggars the imagination how a Minister can sell and impliedly pocket the revenue for one million barrels.

Buhari,obviously, had started his tenure by telling a colossal lie against Jonathan. No integrity there. Flood in Ibadan, which affected my house and archives, prevents me from citing the exact date in 2021 when the Buhari government promised to release the names of those financing terrorism in Nigeria.

That was another promise he never kept. Until his last day in office, no list was released; nobody was arrested or prosecuted for terrorism in the North. Meanwhile, Mayetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, had risen to become the fifth ranked terrorist group in the world by an international watch group.

MACBAN would threaten Governors in the North Central and massacres will follow; yet no arrests were made. Herdsmen slaughtering thousands of farmers was not terrorism according to Buhari. THE GREATEST FRAUD IN NIGERIAN HISTORY "It was beautiful and simple; just as all truly great swindles are." O Henry, 1862-1910. VBQ p 239

The greatest fraud ever perpetrated by any government in Nigeria occurred under Buhari. His accomplice in the grand larceny for which our grandchildren will pay dearly was the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. The abuse of the Ways and Means provision to the tune of N30 trillion - without authorization by the National Assembly, NASS and without accountability for the disposal of the funds - will remain a record for dishonesty by a Nigerian President.

This was not a simple mistake. The constitutional breach was deliberate; the refusal to account for ho the funds were spent was premeditated. I had in my possession copies of the Auditor General of the Federation's reports from 2017 to 2021. They all exposed massive corruption in government under Buhari. Every Ministry, Department and Agency, MDA, was involved.

The worst three were the CBN, NNPC(L) and Defence. Even the Ministry of Justice and EFCC were carpeted several times. All the audit queries were ignored and nobody was punished by Buhari in eight years for not responding to queries. He became the accomplices of looters.

Finally, only God knows to what extent Abacha's loot was re-looted; properties forfeited to the FG were fraudulently disposed of and how much Baba knew about the greatest fraud in Nigerian history.

But, I am aware that a book is in progress to open the can of worms which Buhari's eight years rule has left behind. THANKSGIVING I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have visited my page during 2025. Almighty God will make 2026 a better year for all of you.

DeepSight:
You have to specifically quote a section that states that monies earned and constitutionally meant for the Consolidated Fund can be withheld by an earning agency or body or organisation and then written off by the President.Because that is a recipe for major corruption.

The implication will be that even if NNPC doesn't remit a kobo to the Consolidated Fund the president can write it off. Do you understand the enormity of what you are suggesting. This is not a matter of dispute...
This has nothing to do with writing off sums due from NNPC which are earnings.

On December 29, 2025, President Bola Tinubu authorised the cancellation of about $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion of outstanding obligations owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to the federation account allocation committee (FAAC).

According to a FAAC report filed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the president approved the “debt reconciliation” following a review of records by both parties.

The report showed that the NNPC owed “$1,480,610,652.58 & N6,332,884,316,237.13″ for production sharing contract (PSC), direct sale, direct purchase arrangement (DSDP), royalty arrears (RA), marginal fields current account (MCA) liftings and joint venture (JV), and PSC royalty receivables. But out of the total owed amount, the president approved the cancellation of “$1,421,727,723.00, N5,573,895,769,388.45”.


The cancelled amounts were said to have accounted for about 96 percent and 88 percent, respectively, of NNPC’s debts. Since the decision made headlines, many have questioned the legality of the president’s action.

Some have argued that, since the NNPC operates under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the president also serves as the minister of petroleum, the decision to write off the debts was an institutional process. However, concerns remain about the extent of powers the PIA vests in the president regarding oil and gas sector operations.

WHAT THE PIA SAYS ABOUT THE PRESIDENT’S POWERS IN RELATION TO OIL, GAS SECTOR

The PIA provides guidance for the operation of the oil and gas industry and also outlines the powers vested in key officials, including the president. A review of Section 3 indicates that the Act does not explicitly grant the president the unilateral powers to authorise debt forgiveness.

However, the president, referred to as ‘minister of petroleum’, holds other powers.
Under the PIA, the minister of petroleum is responsible for formulating, monitoring, and administering government policy in the petroleum industry. The minister also exercises general supervision over the sector’s affairs and operations in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

The Act vests the minister with the authority to report developments in the petroleum industry to the government, represent Nigeria in international petroleum organisations, and promote an enabling environment for investment in the sector.

The minister is also empowered to negotiate treaties or other international agreements related to petroleum on behalf of the government. Additionally, upon the recommendation of the NUPRC and its chief executive, the president grants, revokes, and assigns interests in petroleum prospecting licenses and petroleum mining leases.

He is further empowered to approve fees for services rendered by the NUPRC or the relevant regulatory authority and, based on the commission’s recommendations, may direct in writing the suspension of petroleum operations in any area.

‘THE PIA DOES NOT GRANT TINUBU EXPRESS POWER TO CANCEL NNPC DEBT’
Commenting on the issue, Ayodele Oni, partner at Bloomfield Law Practice, said the PIA does not confer express powers on Tinubu to cancel debts owed by the NNPC to the federation. He said the president’s directive can be seen as an executive adjustment following a reconciliation process, “and not as a clear constitutional or statutory write-off power”.

“At best, the decision can be viewed as administrative but not from the constitutional or PIA angle,” Oni said. “At the same time, the legal context of NNPC Limited must be acknowledged. By virtue of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, NNPC was incorporated as a limited liability company, with its assets and liabilities transferred to it as a commercial entity wholly owned by the Federation.”

In her remarks, Vanessa-Vivian Okonta, an energy lawyer, said even though the NNPC is now a commercial entity under the PIA, it remains wholly owned by the federal government as its sole shareholder. “That means the President, as the head of the executive, effectively acts on behalf of the government in its capacity as shareholder,” she said.

“In practice, this gives the executive influence over major corporate decisions, including debt restructuring or write-offs, much like a shareholder might direct the board of a government-owned company.”

However, Okonta noted that this does not override the constitutional provisions, as debts owed to the federation account are technically owned by all tiers of government.

She added that, while the write-off may be defensible as a form of corporate restructuring under the PIA, there remains a legal debate over whether such an action can circumvent Section 162 of the 1999 constitution, which governs the joint ownership of federal revenues. “In short, the President can initiate or approve a write-off in his shareholder capacity, but the action still sits in a gray area when viewed strictly against the Constitution,” Okonta said.

THE POSITION OF NIGERIA’S CONSTITUTION
The lawyers said under the constitution of Nigeria, the president’s powers over fiscal matters are not absolute and are limited by specific constitutional provisions.

“Section 5 of the CFRN vests the executive powers of the Federation in the President for the execution and maintenance of the Constitution and all laws made by the National Assembly. However, this general executive authority must be exercised consistently with the Constitution’s detailed framework on public debt.”

Oni said public debt is expressly placed within the legislative competence of the national assembly by “Item 50 of the Exclusive Legislative List in Part I of the Second Schedule, which provides for the public debt of the Federation”.

“In addition, section 80(1) of the Constitution requires that all revenues or other monies raised or received by the Federation be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, while sections 80(2)–(4) stipulate that no money shall be withdrawn from that Fund except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly..."

“The above provisions suggest that a decision that permanently extinguishes debts owed to the Federation, thereby reducing revenue that would otherwise accrue to the Consolidated Revenue Fund falls within an area constitutionally supervised by the National Assembly.”

Based on the 1999 constitution, debts owed by NNPC, being revenues accruing to the federation, cannot be unilaterally written off by the president without legislative authorisation or the concurrence of the other tiers of government. She said such action would prevent constitutionally mandated revenues from entering the federation account.

“Section 166 offers only a narrow power of set-off, limited to adjustments between the Federation and a state, and does not extend to the forgiveness of debts owed by a government-owned company,” Okonta said.

While public debate is ongoing on the matter, she added that it appears “unchecked” for a president to write off about 96 percent of NNPC’s dollar debts and about 80 percent of the naira debt.