Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari: Missed Opportunities And Verdict OF History (Concluding Part)

By Godson O. Moneke

This is the concluding part of the series in which I x-rayed the leadership capabilities and capacities of the ex-president with a view to recording its place in history. He took the country to a new low that those of us who clamored for him have nothing but regrets for the decision we took in that regard.

As human beings who had no gift of clairvoyance to foresee the disaster he turned out to be, we pray to God to spare us a repeat of such awful experience. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became the president of Nigeria the moment he was sworn into that office by the CJN on Monday, 29th May, 2023.

From that time he became the legal occupant of the role of the president and commander in chief of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria. He needs the support and prayers of everybody to navigate the ship of state because it is in our enlightened and collective interests to do so.

This is without prejudice to the legal challenges to his victory at the poll by his fellow contestants. I say this because I am worried at the attitudes of most Nigerians who take such legal challenge for granted thinking with certainty that nothing will ever come out of it no matter what. This is a dangerous thought because the impression is being created that INEC and not the Voters determines our leaders.

The belief that INEC has the absolute and unchallenged powers to impose any shenanigans on the people in the name of election results should worry us. Another worrisome aspect is the general belief that the judiciary cannot be trusted to deliver justice to those who seek it.

There is this general belief that once the president-elect is sworn in, all talks about the judiciary finding faults and nullifying his election as announced by INEC becomes an impossibility no matter the evidence to the contrary. This is not only a condescending insult to the judiciary but a general assault to the justice system in this country.

The revelation by Senator Bulkachuwa that he influenced his wife, a former president of the court of Appeal to subvert the course of justice in favor of fellow Senators and others is very damning to the integrity of the judiciary.

It goes to show that Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa was a scoundrel on the alter of justice and a disgrace to the judiciary. God will continue to expose the children of perdition and the verdict of history will never be fair to such people.

The interview granted by Senator Ndume on ChannelsTV concerning his first and what he called MORAL AND SOCIAL PRESSURES is also instructive. These confessions should not put unnecessary pressures on the Justices at the PEPC as the minimum we require of them is to do the right thing and uphold the wheel of justice.

Our unwavering faith in the judiciary is borne out of the fact that our Judges and Justice are men and women of character. When they lose this silver lining, they become like salt which has lost its taste. I shudder at the day our judges and justices will be pointed accusing fingers as corrupt individuals.

As a corollary, here is an INEC which has unashamedly become the most irresponsible public institution in the history of Nigeria. We had thought that the worst was over with the exit of Professor Maurice Iwu who in 2007 inflicted the country with an abracadabra in the name of an election, little did we know that something worse than that would rear its ugly head 16 years later during the reign of Professor Yakubu Mahmood as INEC chairman.

INEC which is nominal party to the electoral dispute in court and is supposed to conduct itself as an unbiased umpire is shamelessly behaving like an interested party in the dispute.

INEC has found flimsy reasons to ignore court orders to avail petitioners certified true copies of materials it used to conduct the election which they require for their petitions. INEC lied to Nigerians and is showing lack of transparency in the manner it is conducting itself before the presidential elections petitions court.

Why would INEC object to the tendering of materials certified by it in court as if such materials are rouge elements. Does it make sense that INEC would be hiding details of an election from Nigerians which result it has declared? Why should INEC hide the details from the petitioners who require such details to argue their petitions in the appropriate court as required by law?

I believe the courts should take judicial notice of the irresponsible behaviors and actions of INEC during their proceedings. If INEC cannot defend an election it conducted and which result it has announced without resorting to underhand tactics, then what it claimed to have conducted is a hogwash and not an election.

The court should not shy away from nullifying the election and imposing appropriate disciplinary measures against the leadership especially the chairman of INEC for wasting the time and money of the country.

People have accused Bola Tinubu of appointing only Yoruba people into the few offices he has announced, though unfortunate but I don’t find it reprehensible because Buhari did worse things under our very nose by appointing unqualified and incompetent people into positions of authority.

At least Bola Tinubu would appoint qualified and competent people into offices which ex-President Buhari never bothered to do so long as the appointee is related to him or sang his praise Willy nilly. This country suffered so much damage during the 8year reign of Buhari because he was in the habit of appointing incompetent people into offices.

Competent people gravitate towards competent people while dullards gravitate towards their likes and sycophants. We saw this during the presidency of Buhari. Buhari met the naira-dollar exchange rate at about N200 and left it at above N700 and yet some sycophants and nonentities are hailing him.

Godwin Emefiele was appointed CBN governor by Buhari with his only qualifications being that he holds a degree in banking and finance and was the CEO of a frontline commercial bank which ought to be disqualifying factors if professional ethics meant anything to the ex-president.

There is a world of difference between banking, finance and accounting on one hand and economics on the other hand. Economics though a single honors discipline, is an elegant and robust profession. It is domiciled in the faculty of social sciences because it can be practiced in both the public and private sectors of the economy.

Banking, finance and accounting are meant to service the private sector ab initio that is why they are majorly in the faculties of business administration and management. Though public sector accounting was added later , it never changed the original texture of accounting as a private sector discipline.

If you consider the modules in Cost Accounting, Management Accounting, Financial Accounting and Auditing , you would understand where I am coming from. Economics essentially has two specializations namely; Monetary Economics and Development Economics.

The minister of finance should be an expert in development economics while the CBN governor should be an expert in monetary economics.

The minister of finance is in charge of the Fiscal Policy of government and that is why he supervises the Customs and Excise, FIRS amongst other economic stabilization institutions. Issues like Direct and Indirect Taxation, Import and Export Duties, Subsidies, Balance of Trade and Payments, Import and Export Restrictions and Bans are under his purview.

The monetary policy is essentially the management of INTEREST RATES to achieve parity between SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT, FULL EMPLOYMENT, DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF MONEY AND ACCEPTABLE INFLATION TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

As can be seen, it amounts to putting a square peg in a round hole to make a commercial, development and mortgage banker the CBN governor because the job requirements do not fit into the job specifications . It is similar to making a medical doctor, engineer, quantity surveyor or teacher the CBN governor.

The late Isa Funtua who knew next to nothing except that he was a close ally of the ex-president and a notable sycophant practically foisted Emefiele on Nigerians as the CBN governor and we have suffered incalculable harm for that act of stupidity. The CBN, although has the word ‘bank’ attached to its name is not a bank in the normal sense of the word.

Merchant Banks, Development Banks, Mortgage Banks and other institutions that parade as banks are not banks in the real sense of the word. They use the names loosely and end up creating impression of what they are not.

The real banks are the Commercial Banks which operate the CHECKING SYSTEM and therefore operate the DEPOSIT EXCHANGE MULTIPLIER SYSTEM. Banks create money through the checking systems and the deposit exchange multiplier but non bank financial institutions do not have their OWN CHEQUES.

An expert in monetary economics as the CBN governor would not print Ways and Means in excess of N22Trillion even if you put a gun to his head when the CBN act permitted him not to only print it in excess of about N800billion because he knows the wide ranging implications of such a rascality. Mr Emefiele came from the commercial banking system, another haven of stealing and corruption in Nigeria.

Most commercial banks in Nigeria with the exception of the few foreign owned banks sell BTA and PTA allowances to their customers at BDC rates after buying the hard currency from the CBN at the cheaper official rates. Most commercial banks charge their customers for both INFLOWS AND OUTFLOWS into their accounts thereby encouraging DOUBLE TAXATION AND RIPPING OFF THEIR CUSTOMERS.

At the end , they declare huge profits and parade wealth without hard work. It is important to note that Banking Regulations and Supervision do not account for up to 20% of the role of the CBN in Nigeria’s economy to warrant commercial banking professionals heading the CBN. Apart from enabling banks to perform their role of financial intermediation, CBN protects Depositors Funds and prevents banking collapse.

It amounts to insanity to promote Mr Emefiele to the CBN governor to regulate a system in which he was a very active player with his former colleagues and comrades in the nefarious acts associated with banking in Nigeria as his new subjects.

It is therefore not surprising that his regime was a boom for banks and burst for Nigerian banking public. He encouraged an era of wealth without work.

The suspension and arrest of the CBN governor was a good way to go but it would amount to nothing if there is no thorough probe and similar investigations of NNPC Group, FIRS, HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS MINISTRY, SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM, AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, NIMASA, NPA, AVIATION, EDUCATION , TETFUND AND OTHER MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES WHERE CORRUPTION WAS PREVALENT.

The president and his orbit have better information than I do to know the departments and agencies which constitute the cesspool of corruption in this country.

My study of the psychological make up of the suspended CBN governor showed that he was a greedy, avaricious and wicked human being whose only motivation in all the harm done to Nigeria’s economy by his many actions was MONEY , INFLATED CONTRACTS AND APPEASEMENT OF HIS PAYMASTERS.

Character should be an important ingredient and consideration in the choice and appointment of the CBN governor in addition to qualifications and competence.

The sale of the Keystone bank to his paymasters for a paltry sum of N50million is a tale for another day. How Titan bank mysteriously bought over the legendary Union bank can only be answered by Mr Emefiele who is alleged to be the man behind the mask. Stories abound on how some banks were sold to cronies, paymasters and other insiders in the corridors of power.

A regrettable development in our mundane politics is the current upsurge in ethnic politics sometimes being given official labels. It should be noted by those in all branches of government in the federal government that the resources which they control belong to all Nigerians and they hold them in trust for all.

Any leader who uses the general resources for the benefit of his ethnic group and to the exclusion of other ethnic groups as done by the nepotistic ex-president Buhari is nothing but a THIEF and shall at the appropriate time contend with his own verdict of history.

The recent statement by the re-elected speaker of the Lagos state house of assembly to the effect that the assembly would make laws to discriminate against tax-paying non-indigenes of the state is nothing but a hogwash and empty air meant for him to feel good, appear relevant and play to the gallery.

A sensible person does not make a law he knows will have UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OR HE HAS NO POWERS TO MAKE AT ALL. People should ask themselves questions about where this ETHNICALLY INCLINED LEADERSHIP WHICH HAS BEEN PRACTICED SINCE 1960 HAS LED THIS COUNTRY IN THE COMITY OF NATIONS?

We should copy what the advanced countries do to be where they are and understand how they manage their diverse ethnicities. Like I always say, resort to RELIGIOUS POLITICS WILL DESTROY THIS COUNTRY AND AROUSE UNNECESSARY SUSPICIONS AMONG US. Those who preach religious politics and the associated passions are nothing but PREDATORS WHO PREY ON THE IGNORANCE OF THE MASSES.

It is your behavior that identifies you as a good Christian or Moslem and not the religious garb you wear. The HOOD DOES NOT MAKE A MONK BECAUSE MOST CRIMINALS WEAR HOODS WHEN THEY ROB THEIR VICTIMS. Even assassins wear hoods these days.

Therefore, such bigots should not deceive people with their rhetorics and self-serving preachments. Nigeria has about the highest number of churches and mosques in the world and yet remains as one of the most corrupt countries.

There is corruption in churches and mosques, the so-called religious leaders are nothing but selfish bigots who use religion as opium to brainwash the masses. Those who preach religious politics are nothing but satanic souls who do not understand the fine points of spirituality which is the basis of religion.

Ex-President Buhari did so much harm to Nigeria and performed woefully in all departments of governance that he left some of his henchmen who are still in active politics confused as to resort to making irresponsible statements masked in religious politics and sentiments.

You can not call yourself a good Christian or Muslim when you encourage the SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD OF PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY DON’T PRACTICE YOUR FAITH !!!!!!

I wish to comment on the mistaken belief that the leadership of the National Assembly confers any advantage on the geopolitical zone of the occupier.

It is a deceptive myth accentuated by the fault lines of the country which political leaders and elites have always exploited for their selfish and personal benefits. During the OBJ presidency (1999-2007), the southeast geopolitical zone produced the Senate President which attracted no visible infrastructural development to the zone.

David Mark was Senate President for many years and never conferred any advantage on NorthCentral geopolitical zone. The same applied to those that produced the Speakers of the HOR. A study of the situations would reveal that what those leaders got were only personal to them which they used to intimidate and hold courts over the people in their zones.

No benefits accrued to their respective zones by virtue of their leadership positions in the National Assembly. It is little wonder they all ended up having frosty relationships with their respective state governors because there could not be two captains in one boat.

Besides, they often worked at cross purposes with their governors who very well understood the power dynamics. Headship of an important ministry or a grade A parastatal can be more beneficial to a zone than even being the Senate President or Speaker of the HOR.

The lawmakers should concentrate on making qualified and competent people their leaders so that they can prioritize their primary assignment. The National Assembly exists to make laws for the good of the citizens of Nigeria, protect the fundamental rights of Nigerians and put a check on the excesses of the Executive branch and Judicial Branch.

The NA is not a contract awarding institution or a forum for lobbying and blackmailing the executive branch. When the NA leaves its constitutional role in favor of extorting the executive branch, it loses its relevance and respect. It is the duty of the NA to assert and protect its independence from other branches as required by the constitution.

With all the acquiescence to the executive branch by the 9th NA, what benefits accrued to the respective geopolitical zones of the Principal Officers? The solution is for everybody to do the right thing and eschew nepotism and tribalism in the performance of their constitutional responsibilities.

President Bola Tinubu should seize this opportunity and leave his name in the sands of time. I believe without apologies that any of the frontline presidential candidates namely; Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso can ably lead this country to repair the years eaten by Buhari’s locust.

The courts will determine whether Bola Tinubu will continue as president of Nigeria or give way to whom the courts decide as true winner of the presidential election. The courts have done it before with the Obi vs Ngige case in Anambra state, Oshiomole vs Osunbor in Edo state, Fayemi vs Oni in Ekiti state, Aregbesola vs Oyinlola in Osun state and the Mimiko case in Ondo state.

It is the reason for the many off-season elections but I see it more of a reminder of the ineptitude and failure of INEC. If it happens now at the national level , it would just be a reminder for us to take our electoral systems more seriously.

Therefore, heavens will not fall if this presidential election is canceled. Our state institutions must perform their statutory role with the required integrity. After all these, whoever happens to be the president of Nigeria should have his first and most important task as reviving the ailing economy. The economy is almost comatose largely due to mismanagement by the immediate past administration.

The president needs to tackle the ailing economy. But we need to get our politics right first and foremost. We can not continue on this false trajectory. Whatever is the case, let the correct thing be done because VOX POPULI VOX DEI !!!!!!

Moneke, a quantity surveyor, economist, sociologist, administrator and sociopolitical advocate wrote from Abuja. Readers are permitted to share