Oped: APC and Tinubu are finally experiencing the Buhari Nigerians endured for eight years
On Wednesday, February 1, 2023, in a television interview, the governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai claimed that there were elements within the presidency who did not want Bola Tinubu and by extension the All Progressives Congress to win the 2023 presidential election. The minister of information, Lai Mohammed, was quick to deny this.
Interestingly, El-Rufai repeated this claim a day later in another television interview, perhaps showing that he had not made a mistake and despite the denial from the minister, he was standing by his words.
El-Rufai’s agitation is very likely connected to the fuel scarcity and redesigned naira notes which have brought untold hardship to Nigerians a few weeks before the general elections.
Incidentally, the first lady, Aisha Buhari, shared a clip of the interview on her Instagram account perhaps giving credence to El-Rufai’s assumption.
The Kaduna state governor’s speculation mirrors Tinubu’a claim on January 25, 2023, during a campaign in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state that the government’s decision to make fuel scarce and the new notes difficult to get will not stop him from winning the election.
Political analysts have said that President Muhammadu Buhari does not seem to be supporting Tinubu’s ambition and he looks nonchalant and unconcerned about the success of his party’s presidential candidate. He has repeatedly told Nigerians that he would not spend an extra day in Abuja when he hands over to the next president and will instead retire to his homeland in Daura.
The APC and Tinubu are perhaps for the first time having a taste of the experience of millions of Nigerians in President Buhari’s eight-year administration. Many times, the president has given a stand-offish air refusing to hold media briefings or engage in any town-hall meetings. Despite having multiple media aides, he rarely communicated with Nigerians. This allowed rumours about his well-being and whereabouts to fester. The embarrassing situation got to a point where Buhari had to deny being cloned and that he is not ‘Jibrin from Sudan.’
Buhari has not changed; he remains the same person who has maintained the same demeanour for eight years in office. Perhaps Tinubu and the APC did not see it then but many Nigerians at a point got used to not expecting the president to comment on issues. Many Nigerians believed, and probably still do, that Buhari is not in charge of his government and that there is a cabal in Aso Rock unofficially running the affairs of the nation.
Whether this is true or not is not the central issue here; it’s rather a case of Buhari’s adopted method of governing the nation as though he was doing the country a favour. To him, the youths are lazy and farming is an open opportunity for them to make wealth despite the effect banditry has had on farmlands and lives of people.
Since Buhari became president, many believe he feels sated after having achieved a lifelong dream. His communication with Nigerians which was constant during the campaign dipped badly and Nigerians, after several complaints, have gotten used to this version of the president. Tinubu and the rest of the APC leadership, perhaps, are just seeing it. If it will have an effect on the party’s 2023 chances, we will find out in a few weeks.
