The Presidency: No longer at ease

Shortly after he left office as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati had expressly said that Aso Rock Villa, the seat of power in Abuja, was demonised.

He alluded to happenings that were inexplicable, which could have been the reason for strange and shoddy implementation of great policies and programmes of government.

On several occasions, more than once, Aisha Buhari, First Lady said that the Presidency had been hijacked from President Muhammadu Buhari, her husband, by a powerful clique called “cabal”. In July 2017, while her husband was on medical trip in London, she had talked about “hyenas and jackals” scheming for power, but saying that they would be banished.

Recall also that President Buhari could not move into his office in Aso Rock Villa immediately he returned from the medical vacation on August 19, 2017 after over 100 days in London. Nigerians were told that an army of strange rodents had taken over his office.

Despite the repeated ‘no-rift’ denial by the Presidency, the body language of the President and that of the ‘cabal’ at the Presidency have given the indication that Osinbajo is there just for the record.

Analysts said that the Vice President’s ordeals had their roots in some decisions he took when he acted as President when Buhari was away in London for medical reasons.

For instance, Osinbajo had confirmed the appointment of Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) against the wish of the cabal. And has also in August 2018 sacked the then Director-General of Department of State Service, Lawal Daura, over the controversial invasion of the National Assembly. Daura was said to be rude and condescending when Osinbajo summoned him to explain the siege on the National Assembly by his men. Reports have it that Daura has continued to retain his accommodation in the Villa despite his sack.

At a purported meeting between President Buhari and two apparatchiks of the ruling party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Bisi Akande, a national newspaper quoted the President as saying that Osinbajo had crossed the red line and that he wanted him resigned. There has not been any refutation of that report, which seems to put a seal of truth on it.

The seemingly frosty relationship came to a head when President Buhari, while inaugurating his new cabinet in August, ordered the new ministers to submit any request meant for him to his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and all executive matters to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mustapha Boss. Analysts believe that this has given the Chief of Staff more power, which he is allegedly using to hunt his perceived enemies.

These alleged anti-Osinbajo moves came at a time he was touted to be nursing the ambition to succeed his boss resident Buhari in 2023, as the cabal mainly from the northern part of the country is already plotting never to allow power shift to the South.

As if that was not enough indication that things have fallen apart, and the centre can no longer hold, Buhari went ahead and stripped him of his powers over the economic team of government. The President had announced the replacement of the Economic Management Team (EMT), which Osinbajo chaired, with an Economic Advisory Council (EAC), to be chaired by Professor Doyin Salami.

Steadily, the Vice President is being de-feathered. The latest in the series of humiliation that have trailed him is the sacking of his 35 aides at whim. Last week, the President who is resting in London had ordered Kyari to bring a document from Nigeria for him to sign. Many Nigerians raised eyebrows why such should happen when a vice president is on ground. A matter of hours after Kyari returned to Nigeria, he sacked Osinbajo’s aides.

Reports had it that Osinbajo tried but could not delay the letters from being sent out pending the President’s return. He had wanted to talk things over with the President upon his return, but the “Presidency” reportedly went ahead to effect the sack.

The questions begging for answers are, does it mean Osinbajo cannot put a call directly to his boss while he is on holiday in London or he no longer has his direct contact? Does it mean the Vice President is no longer part of the presidency? Some Analysts believe there may have been some discussions between the President and Kyari when, he, the Chief of Staff, took the file to London, upon the return of which he began to effect their plans.

“The way I see things, the sack was just one of the series of the assaults that would be hauled at Osinbajo in the days ahead,” Kenneth Iwo, a political affairs analyst, told BDSUNDAY.

Andrew Elkanah, a systems engineer, said the frosty relationship has run very deep that anything can happen any moment from now.

“This loss of cordial working relationship was evident even before the 2019 general election. The President simply tolerated Osinbajo just to win a return ticket because he believed he would be calling the wrath of the Yoruba, South West, should he dropped the VP. But, now that elections are over, he believes he has nothing again to lose. We are going to see more onslaughts against, not only Osinbajo but the South West.  The bulk of the 35 aides that were sacked were from South West that drafted him into the presidency in the first place. That should be an eye-opener,” Elkenah said.

Osinbajo’s travail and 2023 ambition

Unconfirmed reports had it that the Vice President’s travails could be located in the backyard of his touted 2023 Presidential ambition. It was also gathered that the alleged ambition may have so pitted him against the National Leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he, Tinubu, at a meeting with Buhari had allegedly supported Buhari’s intention to ask Osinbajo to resign as a result of his (the VP’s) intolerable sins against the President.

BDSUNDAY gathered that Tinubu felt betrayed by Osinbajo’s guts to imagine running for the Presidency in 2023 when he was aware that Tinubu’s eyes were also there. Observers say, “What is playing out is power play”.  According to critics, “Apart from the persecution from the cabal at the Presidency, Bola Tinubu is no longer favourable to the Vice President. There are fifth columnists that have spoilt the relationship between the VP and his political godfather. They carry damaging rumours to Tinubu and his bitterness grows against the VP.”

“Whether Osinbajo is nursing the ambition to succeed Buhari is something I cannot confirm now; but the truth is that a lot of lies go on in the system and it is destroying a lot of things,” Toyin Olatona, a publicist, told BDSUNDAY. Olatona further said that it was naivety for Tinubu to think that the Presidency would protect his interest while fighting Osinbajo.

“In the eyes of the cabal in the Presidency, Asiwaju has no worth beyond his role as the chief financier of the Presidential election for Buhari. Yes, they also respect him for putting the ladder on which President Buhari climbed to the office, but, beyond that, I can tell you for free that there is no plan to make Tinubu succeed Buhari. Anybody thinking about that is just humouring himself,” he said.

Kazeem Ahmed, who claimed to be a fan of the Vice President, decried the habit of denials by the managers of the President, even in matters that are clear to everyone.

“We are all Nigerians and we have been in this country for years. We know our leaders that they tell lies a lot. But what is the point telling lies when you know you will come back to admit you lied. That does not show integrity. After series of denials, the Presidency eventually owned up to the sack of 35 Osinbajo’s aides. They have always rushed to tell lies, making Nigerians doubt the authenticity of whatever information that comes from them. The other time, the original list of new ministers leaked and was everywhere on social media; they said it was fake, but at the end of the day, it was the same list. Why is government taking delight in lying? Ahmed wondered.

Although the Presidency said the sack of Osinbajo’s aides was a measure to reduce cost of governance, Ahmed faulted that, “That decision has nothing to do with reducing cost, after all, the President recently added some aides to the Vice President. Why is it now that they suddenly realised they are spending much? There is no doubting the fact that things have gone wrong somewhere between the President and Vice President Osinbajo. I will not be surprised if they succeed in forcing the Vice President to resign; the pressure is just too much.”

Reacting to the sacking of some aides of the Vice-President, the Publicity Secretary of pan-Yoruba socio-cultural Organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin said that recent decision by the presidency had shown that Osinbajo’s powers had been reduced.

Odumakin, however, urged the Vice-President to fight back or resign from the Buhari administration.

“What is happening now shows that Osibanjo is being amputated. He has been taken hostage in this administration considering what is happening.

“When Atiku faced similar circumstance in APC he fought back. But the question is; does Osibanjo have the morals to fight back. During the Babangida regime, the Chief of Army Staff then resigned because he was side-lined. They have not told us what he did,” Odumakin said.

In his view the National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Sanni Yabagi said the sacking of the aides was politically-motivated, while urging Osinbajo to seek advice from his region before taking a decision.

Yabagi, however, stressed that the sacking may signal the beginning of alignment ahead 2023 general election in the country.

“It is a matter that has political undertone in the sense that it could mean an alignment of political forces ahead of 2023 elections.  For me, this could be about 2023.

“He is representing a zone in the country, let him go and consult with his people, he cannot unilaterally take a decision; let him meet his people and decide what to do,” Yabagi said.

But a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Moshood Salvador, disagreed that Osibanjo was being targeted by the decision, while urging Nigerians not to politicise everything.

“People have been talking, but personally it is not the first time this is happening, there is nothing unusual about the sacking. Nigerians should stop politicising everything and reading meaning to everything.

“You saw the memo from the presidency, the reply, other people were affected nothing unusual to me,” Salvador said.

CHUKA UROKO and INIOBONG IWOK