PENULTIMATE week, immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, played host to a flurry of politicians from across the country, thereby raising hopes that the former military and civilian Nigerian leader would play some roles in the lead up to the 2027 general election cycle, LEO SOBECHI reports.
Can he be a modern political mashup of Ahmadu Bello and Aminu Kano? Are northern politicians trying to make of him a godfather or political mascot to rally the North’s quest for control, harmony and stability?
Those were some of the questions that swirled in various circles, penultimate week, when prominent political players took turns in paying “sallah homage” to immediate past president Muhammadu Buhari.
Although virtually all the visitors played along with journalists, parrying questions about what actually constituted the central topic of their discussions, the sporadic visits to Buhari’s Unguwa Sarkin residence in Kaduna, Kaduna State, to a large extent, reminded of a similar event three years ago.
That was in the build up to the June 6-8, 2022 special convention and presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, was playing host to different groups, including the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the Southwest leaders and some APC stakeholders.
Back then, the issues revolved around the shape of presidential transition expected at the convention, as well as who or what zone should receive his support to fly the APC’s flag for the presidential ballot.
To the Southwest leaders, the challenge was more about who among the prodigious number of aspirants should be put forward in line with Buhari’s demand on the zone to raise a short list so as not to jeopardise its chances. But that admonition was later found to be a clear case of taqqiyya (tricky manouvre, camouflage), as indicators later showed that the outgoing never favoured the then APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, who later emerged as the party’s presidential standard bearer for the February 25, 2023, ballot.
The cat was let out of the bag when the then national chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, announced to the chagrin and disbelief of party stakeholders, particularly the governors’ caucus, otherwise known as Progressive Governors’ Forum, that the then President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, was Buhari’s preferred candidate.
But feeling betrayed and let down, the Progressive Governors, led by the then outgoing governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, raised a counter letter, in which the chief executives of 19 northern states announced power shift to the South. The chaos that ensued was exacerbated by Adamu’s unilateral action and failure to build consensus among the northern political leaders.
The governors were also taken aback that Buhari and Adamu should choose Lawan of all people to support as possible successor and by-passing the state chief executives and the crucial roles they usually play in the election of presidents. The then outgoing Kaduna State governor, el-Rufai teamed up with die-hard Tinubu apologists like Senator Atiku Baguda, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and Badaru, to queue up for a possible Tinubu Presidency as well as the promise of a running such prospect offered.
Eyes On 2027
Two years into the Tinubu Presidency, some northern politicians within the APC believe that the North has not been compensated with commensurate appointments and involvement in the day to day running of the Federal Government vis-à-vis their contribution to Tinubu’s emergence and election as President.
But barely one year into the life of the Tinubu Presidency, when the murmuring about perceived neglect of the North began to swirl, a close confidant of the President and Chairman, Editorial Board of Nation Newspapers, Dr. Sam Omatseye, had disclosed in a Podcast that Buhari and his acolytes never actually supported or worked for President Tinubu’s electoral triumph.
Omatseye disclosed that after President Buhari secured his second term mandate, prodigious efforts were made to block the former Lagos State governor from accessing the Presidential Villa, adding that sequel to that plot, the APC leadership was dismantled to diminish Tinubu’s chances of contesting and even winning the party’s presidential ticket.
Omatseye had stated: “What they did was to take over the party structure from him (Tinubu), because they found out that (Comrade Adams) Oshiomhole was his man. If he was the head of the party, it would be difficult.
“Not him (Buhari) alone, some state governors didn’t want Asiwaju to still ride high in the party. Of course, the cabal around Buhari didn’t want him. They removed Oshiomhole, and that was the first step.”
Recent events revealed that instead of dissipating, the mutual suspicion and loss of amity have continued to thicken. For instance, while appearing on Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, penultimate Friday, the member representing Borno South in the Senate, Ali Ndume, declared that general feeling among most APC members is that they have been abandoned by President Tinubu’s administration.
Referring to the crusading role of el-Rufai, Ndume asserted that a greater number of APC stalwarts share the same sentiments of disappointment and exclusion.
While alleging skewed appointments by President Tinubu, the Borno South remarked: “Looking at what I know, like appointments, having access, and carrying people along, he’s just down in the school. People are not happy. “Many people don’t have access, I said it sometimes back and they didn’t do something about it. Instead, they came back on the back of newspapers and started abusing the messenger instead of addressing the message.” He urged President Tinubu to be look deeper in the light of claims of a possible alliance between Buhari and the proposed opposition coalition.
Rebel Leader, Navigator
Having been at the forefront in championing a joint Muslim presidential ticket shortly after Tinubu emerged as APC flag bearer for the 2023 poll, former Kaduna State governor, el-Rufai, was blocked from any role play in the Tinubu administration.
Sources claimed that Bagudu, Ganduje and Badaru, as well as the other troika of National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, stonewalled plans to bring in el-Rufai into the administration.
It was, however, gathered that President Tinubu did not take kindly to series of public pronouncements by el-Rufai prior to the general election, some of which were template for dethroning political godfathers and avowals against deputising certain kind of candidates. Left in the lurch, the former Kaduna State political playmaker carved a space for himself in the forward march to 2027 general election. He not only became the mouthpiece of the opposition to President Tinubu, but also a champion and navigator for northern power play, even as he quit the ruling party and serves as canvasser for a Southern alternative to the Tinubu Presidency.
Leaving APC for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), el-Rufai, who styled himself as an accidental civil servant, has effectively positioned himself as the navigator for a North-led coalition to detain President Tinubu as a one term President.
Ever since his historical defection, el-Rufai has been recruiting opposition figures and building what could be described as a rampart to the dominance of APC in the polity. One of the big fishes the former Kaduna State governor cornered was former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. With Atiku in his corner, he went for the immediate past President Buhari, whom he was said to have regaled with tales about how “they are making his administration look bad.”
It was learned that despite what many describe as his average performance in office in eight years, Buhari’s voice still earns some measure of respect among the northern masses.
It was therefore against that background that when el-Rufai announced that his defection to SDP received the blessing of Buhari, the claim set off an alarm bell in the 40 Blantyre Headquarters of APC, with some suggesting that a northern political coup against President Tinubu’s second term was in the works.
Describing Buhari as one of the few persons that he respects as political godfathers that can influence his political decisions, el-Rufai told an interviewer in the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that he met with Buhari on Friday, March 7 and disclosed his planned defection to SDP.
“He wished me success…And he gave his blessing, prayers and told me that he is now a statesman, (while) we are the politicians. He said he knew we had good intention, and then prayed for us,” he explained.
Imam Of New Political Mecca
Subsequent events at President Buhari’s abode in Anguwan Sarki, Kaduna, after the former Kaduna State governor announced his new political pastime through the BBC, left the impression that despite serving out his two terms, the former president was not tired of politics and politicians.
Perhaps on account of central location of Kaduna or the disclosures by el-Rufai or both, Buhari’s residence became a political Mecca of sorts, as friends and foes joined in paying homage to the former President.
Politically-exposed persons that visited the former military head of state, included the APC national chairman, Ganduje and his entourage, Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma and Fourth Republic Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his coalition advocates.
Explaining his experience after visiting Buhari in Kaduna, Atiku, posted the following on his X-handle: “As the Waziri Adamawa, I was obligated to be in my Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations. I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations.
“Today, I had the opportunity to pay a post-Sallah visit to His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015-2023. It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour.”
Atiku was accompanied by el-Rufai, former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, among others. Despite el-Rufai’s explanation that the meeting with Buhari had no political undertones, it was obvious that his comments were merely to ensure that “our adversaries” (do) not to lose sleep over it.
Further, not long after Atiku and Co’s homage, the APC National Chairman, Ganduje, equally led the National Working Committee to socialise with Buhari. While dismissing insinuations that the opposition coalition proponents were winning Buhari over, Ganduje said APC was not worried by Atiku’s coalition moves.
He explained that he led the NWC to brief the former President on APC’s activities, stressing that the former president needed to be kept up to speed about the achievements of the party since he left office and Abuja.
Further signs that the city of Kaduna was set to feature in the scheming and northern mobilisation for the next general election emerged when the former spokesman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Baba-Ahmed, resigned his appointment as the Political Adviser to the President in the office of the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.
As the Tinubu administration prepares to celebrate its second anniversary in office and map its strategies for a second term, it would be seen how far former President Buhari’s support or aversion would go to propel or derail the incumbent’s plans.
