It is two years now since the Nigerian presidential was held. The election has so far changed nothing. The electorates did their part.
The elected have turned the whole electoral outcome into a big joke. In the euphoria that accompanied the concession of defeat by Goodluck Jonathan, the elected president forgot to plan, organise or direct processes that will translate into a good government.
While President Buhari and APC were in joyous mood celebrating success at elections as an end by itself, those who know the advantages of power and desired to appropriate same to themselves were strategizing on how to corner power for their selfish ends.
I had warned then on the possibility of the APC achieving victory and handing over the trophy to the opponents. Opponents here does not depict opponent political parties but opponents of the ideology that won the election.
As usual I have always insisted that President Buhari ran and won his election on a single agenda which is anti corruption. I had understood the implications of uprooting corruption vis a vis our national development and economic prosperity.
It was this same conviction that made me campaign for Buhari both on this platform and beyond. The only other stimulus was the inability or refusal of Jonathan to develop the South South.
This was amplified after visiting the creeks of Bayelsa and discovering that the people in those areas are living below poverty line,and that nothing has been done to alleviate their condition despite the fact that the number one citizen was their own.
The degree of unpreparedness was accentuated by the fact That National Assembly was constituted with the president's input and it took the president six months to constitute its cabinet.
The constitution of the national assembly without presidential input which was was supposed to portray Buhari as a Democrat has become the Achilles foot for the administration.
It is on record that while the president met with a section of APC members in National Assembly another section agreed with the PDP elements in the Senate to elect the principal officers.
The president by his inability to take necessary initiative at the appropriate time allowed the pseudo APC, the crypto PDP and the bona-fide PDP to take a binding action. A tactical walk over.
I tried at that time to draw attention to this failure to take a lead and the potentiality to relegate the new government to a reactionary position. Opinion swung in both directions and finally settled at a let's wait and see position.
Having seen and in the light of our current situation it is pertinent to ask the following questions
Why didn't president Buhari, APC and other relevant stakeholders
1) Convene a meeting after the elections to develop a template for governance if there was none. Such templates should have included election of principal officers of both legislative houses.
2) Who mooted the idea of the meeting that took place while the pseudo APC, crypto and real PDP held a parallel congregation to elect principal officers
3) If the meeting convened by the President did not hold would the outcome of the election of the principal officers be different?
4) After the coup why was the Presidency unable to reclaim initiative knowing fully well that a cooperating Senate is pivotal to the success of the Executive?
5) If Buhari did not know didn't Tinubu, Fashola or Amechi know?
6) Did the sixteen years in which the coalition of what was to become APC stay in opposition inflict them with a perennial opposition mentality or inferiority complex?
7) Why has the Presidency failed to gain lost ground till date?
As cardinal to its survival as a harmonious relationship with the Senate in particular is, the Presidency failed or neglected to subdue the Senate as ex President Obasanjo would have done or negotiate and worm or even bought his way as former President Jonathan would have done.
The resultant seddon look has cost the nation so much in terms of development, economic growth and currently is threatening our peace and Unity.
The courage of the Senate has risen with success at one audacious act or the other. Gradually but certain obstruction has paved way for blatant opposition and even veto.
It is reasonable to say that with the Buhari government is running like a vehicle on bound breaking system. Grinding slowly to a halt.
Bills are not passed on time including the appropriation bill, nominees for positions that require Senate ratification are not done with dispatch, no significant function has been carried out by the sixth 8th Senate.
The house instead has navigated from one controversy to another and from one scandal to another.
The Senate has become a law to itself. A Nigeria within Nigeria with Senate President Saraki calling the shots.
The Senate has become autonomous like cancer cells obeying no rules but its own and Rubbing stuff in every eyes.
Unfortunately, while the whole citizenry has been angered by the impunity displayed by the Senate, the President, APC, Presidency and the whole cabinet of the present government are not bothered.
For example the #occupynass 1&2 failed to achieve any meaningful objectives because the Executive arm who were supposed to benefit from the occupation refused to give moral and psychological support to the struggle, a deficit which three highly efficient and calculation NASS establishment discovered and used security forces to harass and intimidate the protesters.
It is on record that on the day of the #occupynass 2 the Presidency actually fixed and held meetings the leadership of NASS spiting the efforts of the occupiers.
It is on record that while patriots were out in the cold, the President was dining with the enemies of our democracy with a short spoon.
The president and Presidency chose to stand with nasser against the masses. I was supposed to attend the second occupation having missed the first nut decided to send in my paper which I later published on this platform.
That is how the President and Presidency kill and buried the #occupynass movement.. Most of the propagators of that movement have abandoned the sunk ships in despair while others have got gone ahead to float a new political order.
More unfortunate is the fact that a government that prides itself on anti corruption stance has failed to protect senators who have dared to oppose the reign of impunity in the Senate.
For example after the humiliation of Senators Jibrin and Ndume which senator will again raise the voice of dissent. Who again will chose to stand on the side of transparency and probity.
With the humiliating suspension of senator Ndume for merely asking that Senate probe a matter which was becoming a big source of embarrassment to the Senate and all decent society, the Senate president Has successfully tucked the whole Senate inside his pocket.
Is he done yet? The answer is no. Emboldened by conquest after conquest he is taking on the President.
First by taking on those close to the president 's heart in the anti corruption struggle. Col Alli rtd, Magu, now prof Sagay.
In Magu's case things are taken a step forward. The Senate president can call for and receive security report on the nominee of the Commander in Chief and act on the content without recourse to the president.
The fact that the Director, Department of State Security can supply such reports without recourse or confirmation from the President goes to give credence to the fact that the President has lost substantial ground in the power play.
As it stands today can President Buhari stand against the Senate in event of an impeachment plot.? The answer is uncertain.
Without loyalist or loyalty of the principal officers the fate of the president is suspended on a balance. It is not in every situation that silence is golden.
When the president went abroad and overstayed and refused to adress Nigerians the silence was applauded but in the face of a rampaging Senate it is not.
Is there any way out of this impasse? The answer is yes. The President must act like a politician. He must be able to a lobby where necessary and bully where necessary but ultimately, he must cease the initiative to run his government with peace of mind. It is an uphill task to work with an uncooperative legislature.
The president must 1) seek all democratic means to make Senate more cooperative in nature and remove all obstacles and blockades to the smooth running of the government
2) invoke his inherent powers as Commander in Chief and mobilise all forces under his command to seal the Senate while carrying out a referendum for unicameral legislature since the Senate will not want to commit voluntary suicide.
Their salaries, wages and allowances can be released into the economy. Never in history have any group of people been paid so much for doing nothing.
It the minimum qualification for the Senate is SSCE that translates to junior cadre in the civil service. If a SSCE holder in the civil service earns 18000 why should another citizen with SSCE earn millions?
3) Invade, play the politics and remove the principal officers of the Senate.
4) Consult Obasanjo.
CONCLUSION : The APC must put their acts together and give people the good governance they promised. We cannot go to sleep on excuses forever. APC is currently behaving like an impotent man who married with the hope that his neighbour will impregnate his wife.
The party must take their responsibility seriously. APC celebrates decampment against a culture of grooming and nurturing their members. The current situation is the price they must pay. A monkey and the gorilla may claim oneness but the monkey will remain a monkey and the gorilla, a gorilla.
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