I doubt that the judiciary would be able to settle the deep disagreements between Nigerians about the outcome of the 2023 elections, especially the result of the presidential election. For some, Bola Tinubu proved his mettle of being a great political actor by securing a nomination where the odds were stacked heavily against him and obtaining sufficient support among political gladiators and citizens to win the presidency. Others think the evidence is clear that Peter Obi won but the results were changed and the evidence is found in the non-transmission of results on the IReV portal because had the process been followed, the evidence of the Obi victory would have been clear. Poor Atiku Abubakar who came second in the race as shown in the official results is largely missing from a lot of the on-going passionate debate and is assumed not to be a factor for reasons that are not clear to me. Every day, there are widespread public debates on the unfolding case at the election tribunal on how the evidence shows clearly that Tinubu or Obi won. Both lawyers and non-lawyers are engaged in the production of the running bifurcated narratives.
Browsing: Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim
For longer than Nigerians can remember, successive governments have been making promises of cutting Nigeria’s huge cost of governance in the face of dwindling resources beginning with reversing the epidemic of multiplication of governmental agencies. In 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan set up the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, under the chairmanship of Steve Oronsaye. The Committee submitted an 800-page report on April 16, 2012, which recommended the abolition and merger of 102 government agencies and parastatals, while some were listed to be self-funding.
Now that there is a new government, my bet is that Nigerians would be asking themselves the question of whether there would be a new cabal in power and its possible composition. This is because there is a passionate and widespread belief that for each regime, there is a powerful informal group outside the government that pulls the strings acting as puppet master. Such groups are usually known as cabals. The most famous cabal in Nigerian political narratives is the “Kaduna Mafia”, which was said to have been the power behind the throne under military rule.
In his valedictory address to the Senate, “distinguished” former member, Adamu Bulkachuwa, has confessed to influencing the decisions of his wife, Zainab Bulkachuwa, while she was serving as a judge and President of the Court of Appeal. Mr. Bulkachuwa, an 83-year old chieftain of the ruling APC, who represented Bauchi North senatorial district in the 9th Senate, confirmed infringing on: “My wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues,” he said. The former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, realised the old man was making dangerous revelations of their secret practices in public and stopped him saying: “Distinguished, I don’t think this is a good idea going this direction. It is not a good idea, please.” It would have been great to hear examples he might have given on how they perverted the course of justice.
One of the clearest symbols of the failure of the Buhari Administration was former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika trying to pool the wool over the eyes of Nigerians presenting a hastily repainted Ethiopian Airline plane chartered for the trick at high cost to claim that he had delivered on his mandate of delivering Nigeria Air before the end of his mandate. The tragicomedy was not funny because Nigerians knew about the billions spent on the project with nothing to show for it. Maybe the big question was why was he reappointed to deliver on this mandate when he had been given the opportunity in the first term of the Administration but had failed miserably? For his failure, he was promoted from junior to senior minister in 2019 and his “empire” carved out of the Ministry of Transport so that he would have sole authority on the matter. The signal was clear, the reward for failure under Buhari was promotion.
In his inaugural address on Monday, President Bola Tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidy as it would no longer be an item on the budget. On Wednesday, Government announced a drastic rise in the prices of petrol from 185 to up to 557 Naira a litre depending on location. It was a shock to the Nation and immediately, labour was up in arms demanding for a complete withdrawal. The shock was due to expectations based on government announcements that palliatives would be negotiated and offered to poor Nigerians who would be impacted negatively by the new prices expected to come into effect in July this year.
There has been a frenzy of governance activities over the past three weeks as the Buhari Administration abandons his “Baba go slow” mode of operation and gets into the “let’s work as if there is no tomorrow” mode. Many new contracts are being signed daily. Ministries are being restructured one week before the end of the Administration’s mandate. Requests for approvals are flooding the National Assembly, new loans are being taken and above all, publications are being launched on the great achievements of the Buhari Government. The on-going hysteria is best symbolized by the announcement from the Minister of Aviation who is demolishing buildings, restructuring the ministry, sacking and appointing management staff that today, 26th May 2023, Air Nigeria will come into service as it flies into the country. Don’t ask me why it should start service on the last working day of the administration, it’s all part of the governance frenzy. I am one of those who remember that Minister Sirika told us in 2015 that the President has directed him to start a national carrier and it will be done immediately.
Last Friday, I gave the Convocation Lecture at Modibbo Adama University in Yola. The theme was the Nigerian University System and the Public Good: Pathway to Recovery. I addressed the problem of declining finances of the university system, which makes it difficult for the universities to recruit and above all to retain quality staff, engage in research and provide a conducive atmosphere for learning and research. I also addressed the more complex story about the corruption of Nigerian society in general but particularly insidious in the university, which created a mentality of looting and wanton exploitation in whatever situation people find themselves.
Incoming President Tinubu has chosen Godswill Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for the senate president and deputy senate president respectively. For the House of Representatives, he has endorsed Tajudeen Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) for speaker and deputy speaker respectively. In-coming presidents never learn. Since 1999 when President Obasanjo introduced the tradition, there have been frequent battles over the assumed “presidential prerogative” to appoint presiding officers they like and it has seldom favoured the executive. We will see if this one will be different.
Yesterday, the Cuban Embassy held a briefing session on their recently held elections which took place in March. Cuba, with a population of just over 11 million has a National Assembly of 470, with each member representing just about 30,000 people. This means constituents actually know their representatives. Their National Assembly is not full time, members remain on their work posts and run their normal life and simply go to parliament when it is in session. While the National Assembly is directly elected by the people, the President is elected indirectly, that is, by the National Assembly. The high level of participation in the elections, 75%, in a context deep economic crisis provoked by the American blockade was widely seen by both pro- and anti-government groups as a litmus test to gauge support for the Cuban leadership at this time. Once again, the message seems to be the legendary resilience of both the people and government of Cuba remains strong. No wonder the Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel hailed the vote as a “victory” for the Cuban people.