The lingering ‘war’ of attrition allegedly mounted against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is gradually unraveling the complicated maneuvering for power by a cabal of northern extraction holding forth in the Presidency.
The intricate power play ahead of the 2023 succession battle is about to test the resolve of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the amorphous political alliance propped up towards the 2015 election to topple former President Goodluck Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The principal architects of the APC coalition were the political gladiators from the South West of the country led by Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State. Tunubu’s shrewd political tactic and influence, coupled with the sheer force of President Muhammadu Buhari’s mass followership in the north plus the immense contributions of other heavy weights congealed into a political ‘war’ machine that crushed the then ruling PDP in the 2015 elections.
Then, after four years in the saddle, the alliance, though less formidable, won election again at the presidency in 2019 but that is where a new crisis seems to have begun. The alleged unwritten agreement that the South, should produce the President in 2023, is now mired in controversy as some hawks in the northern part of the country are scheming to retain power. The seemingly power-intoxicated clique is said to have taken so many clandestine steps to thwart the power rotation agreements allegedly spelt out by the stakeholders, irrespective of the consequences for the peace, stability and unity of the country. An internal combustion within the APC alliance appears inevitable if the situation is not properly handled.
Perhaps, the most visible sign that the cabal has intensified their quest to retain power to their section emerged with the current treatment being meted out to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The number two man in the pinnacle of Nigeria’s political power is facing the political battle of his life over his perceived intentions to succeed President Buhari in 2023. To a greater extent also, the alleged ambition of Osinbajo’s benefactor Bola Tinubu to become President in 2023 and the general interest of the South to produce the next president appear to have come under threat.
The Economic Management Team (EMT), which Osinbajo chaired, was on Monday September 16 dissolved and replaced with the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to be chaired by Professor Doyin Salami. The Presidency also announced other members of the new body as Mohammed Sagagi (vice-chairman), Ode Ojowu, Shehu Yahaya, Iyabo Masha, Chukwuma Soludo, Bismarck Rewane, and Mohammed Adaya Salisu (secretary).
Although the Vice President still retains his constitutional position as the head of the National Economic Council (NEC), the alleged announcement from the Presidency that Osinbajo should henceforth report to the president before taking any action over the agencies statutorily under his charge revealed the alleged concerted efforts to undermine the law professor.
The agencies being supervised by the Vice President are the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Boundary Commission (NBC), the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) and the Social Investment Programmes (SIP).
It was gathered that the SIP may now operate under the newly created Ministry of Social Development, Humanitarian Affairs & Disaster Management headed by Sadiya Umar Farouq. This action was taken because of alleged mismanagement of the fund in the SIP under the Vice President but he had denied any wrong doing.
He also reportedly submitted that he was willing to waive his immunity to undergo probe over another alleged fraud of about N90 billion Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) funds even as he threatened legal action against those he claimed were the purveyors of the falsehood that he misappropriated the said fund.
“I have today instructed the commencement of legal action against two individuals, one Timi Frank and another Katch Ononuju, who have put their names to these odious falsehoods. I will waive my constitutional immunity to enable the most robust adjudication of these claims of libel and malicious falsehood,” the Vice President threatened.
Some analysts believe that ordinarily there was nothing wrong in the decision of the presidency to set up an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) as such has not impeded on the constitutional right of the Vice President who chairs the NEC. However, in Nigerian politics nothing appears as it seems and therefore, heavy dose of political maneuvering may have motivated the recent developments.
Speaking to BusinessDay on Friday, a columnist and security analyst, Majeed Dahiru, said it is important to understand that the Advisory Council as constituted by the President is in no way going to supplant the National Economic Council that is constitutional chaired by the Vice President as Presidents since 1999 have come up with their economic management team in different forms in order to help them set agenda for the overall socio economic development of the country.
He alluded to the fact that in the first four years of the Buhari administration, he abdicated his responsibilities as a president and instead constituted an Economic Management Team that is answerable to the Vice President in addition to the Vice President’s constitutional chairmanship of the NEC.
“So abi ni tio, the Vice President’s office was actually overloaded by responsibilities. This is on the surface. But beyond this Economic Advisory Council that the president set up, which has now dissolved the Osinbajo-led Economic Management Team as distinct from his constitutional responsibility of the National Economic Council, there are also other narratives given to the Vice President that indicate certain political maneuvering in the presidency.
“And the issue of political maneuvering may not necessarily be about the Economic Council but you know that some aspects of the Vice President’s office, the SIP and others are being moved to the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and there have been allegations of mismanagement of the programme. We also hear that the Vice President was asked to report directly on the issues concerning some of the constitutional agencies under him to the president for approval before taking any action which may not have been the case in the first four years.
“And for a government that we know that uses the war against corruption as a politically potent weapons to either cow opposition or fight perceived opponents, the talk about the corruption bandied around the Vice President indicative of subtle political move to undermine the vice president for unknown reasons,” he said.
Majeed added that part of the alleged disguised political maneuvering was to now appoint credible and highly inspiring figures in the economic world in Nigeria into the EAC. “I think that is a way to divert attention from the real issue. I do not think that the president has an intention in reality to resuscitate the economy than what he has done in the first term,” he added.
The EAC will advise the president quarterly even as none of the members is cabinet member or a statutory adviser to the president or heading any agency. It is assumed that the president may not utilise the brilliant minds in the EAC as the intention may not altogether be altruistic.
This assumption is predicated on the notion in some quarters that President Buhari has never believed in power rotation between North and South and may not work for it in 2023, judging by his alleged provincial proclivity.
On this premise, Majeed averred that President Buhari has not shown commitment to rotation of power between North and South. He said: “For a man who does not trust the entire south of Nigeria, with leadership of all internal security agencies in the last four years, including the Ministry of Interior and the Permanent Secretary Interior, such a man is likely not going to entrust the commander-in-chief to the south of Nigeria.
“So the president’s predisposition to this issue of power rotation is fuelling the agitation in the South West for example that there may be a reneging of the understanding that power will rotate between that part of the country and the north. And we have heard some people already talking about jettisoning the issue of power rotation and allowing for competence.”
According to him, “The people saying this, believe that there is demographic advantage in northern Nigeria that might perpetually situate power in the north against the south. Now, this is the highest level of injustice and disingenuous political adventure that might have serious consequences for Nigeria’s unity and cohesion.”
Writing on the Osinbajo saga, another columnist Onuoha Uke, observed that “It is obvious that the Vice President is now having his ‘baptism of fire,’ not in the spiritual sense, but figuratively. He had everything going for him. Now, the political hawks have remembered our dear pastor Vice President. The honeymoon appears over.
“With the beginning of Osinbajo’s travail, the South West would eventually know that its political alliance with the North was for the convenience of the latter. The South West only helped the aristocrats in the North to take power, which they believe should only be held by them. It is an experiment, which would end up as an unpleasant political lesson for the Yoruba.’’
