Buhari: Bomb or bubble?

The newly formed All Progressives Congress,
APC , is faced with the difficult predicament of
containing the determination of General
Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to contest the next
presidential election.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
His last military posting before he was
proclaimed military head of state in December
1983 was as General Officer Commanding the
3rd Armoured Brigade, Jos. Giving that military
backdrop, it is not surprising that he is being
accused of confusing the newly registered APC
with the Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC, one
of the military vehicles used to position him in
power 30 years ago.
Though General Buhari has renounced the
utilization of force in the realization of
political goals, many of his new political allies
are still apprehensive about him. Their fear is
his determination to contest the next
presidential elections due in 2015.
Receiving visitors from the Democratic
Emancipation Movement, who paid him a
courtesy call in his Kaduna home last Tuesday,
the former military ruler vowed that he would
present himself for nomination to the APC for
the 2015 presidential election. He,
nevertheless, pledged that he would abide by
the result of the primary contest if he loses
out.
“My decision will be tied to the constitution of
the APC. If the party chooses me as its
candidate. I will contest. If the members do
not consider me, I will not contest, but I will
still support the party,” he said.
Refusal to rule himself out
After contesting and failing in the last three
presidential elections, 2011, 2007 and 2003,
many of his allies in the APC are bothered by
the refusal of the retired general to rule
himself out of the next contest.
Their fear is essentially based on their
suspicion that the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP see him as the easiest candidate of
the APC to defeat. It is not for nothing.
Apparently filed somewhere in the national
headquarters of the PDP, is the election
manual: Easy steps to defeat Muhammadu
Buhari in an election.

His refusal to rule himself out of the contest
was just too irritating for some.
Indeed, once his assertion emerged on
Wednesday, a senior member of the new party
close to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and also
close to Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal came
out to chastise the former military ruler for
attempting to use his personal ambition to
derail the collective goal of the new party to
oust the ruling party.
“By our calculations, a younger and vibrant
politician should run as our candidate so as to
give the Peoples Democratic Party a good
fight; but from the way things are, we are
stocked in between telling Buhari outrightly
not to run and allowing him to continue with
some ripple effects coming our way later,” the
ranking member of the National Assembly told
newsmen.
The response of the lawmaker which was on
the basis of anonymity because he apparently
did not want to further stir crisis in the party
that has just been registered. It was
nevertheless reflective of the increasing
difficulties of party officials in handling the
Buhari question. The Buhari question is,
remarkably, not suggestive of any moral or
integrity deficit in the former military ruler.
While most Nigerians readily would not fault
Buhari on the crucial issues of corruption
facing the country, most would readily agree
that he has been so much painted in the
negative by the PDP in the last three elections
as an Islamist and one who would put the
majority of corrupt elite to jail should he get
his hands on the levers of power again.
The National Assembly member told journalists
in the off the record session, that Buhari and
Tinubu had reached an agreement in the
preliminary talks leading to the merger of the
three parties that formed the APC for the duo
to abstain in the 2015 presidential primary of
the party.
He said it was the opinion of party
stakeholders for the APC to look for fresh
blood to confront the PDP. Such suggestions,
however, do not go down well with many in
the Buhari fan club, especially in the North
who see him as the only one with the moral
fiber in the ruling class able to deliver the
country from its demons.
Internal democracy
Senator Sulieman Nazif, a one time fervent
supporter of Atiku Abubakar but now a vibrant
fan of Buhari said as much during a press
interaction with newsmen in Zaria, last month.
“What I am trying to point out is that when we
talk of internal democracy, General Buhari is a
member of APC, he is a Nigerian, he was one
of those that fought for the unity of this
country, so he has the mandate to contest.
“He is one individual alive today in the history
of Nigeria that has more than 12 million votes
uninfluenced by money or anything, so if he
contests again he will win.”
Claimingthat Buhari’s past failures were
because of rigging, he said: “Today in Nigeria,
there is nobody that can beat him in a fair and
free election. I am a young man, I know what
the man can do, I know the kind of
overwhelming support he has, and we are
talking about democracy, government of the
people by the people and for the people.
Another Buhari enthusiast, Osita Okechukwu,
who is a chieftain of the APC, responded to
what he claimed to be the negative mud being
deliberately poured on his man. He said
yesterday: “They rigged him out in 2003. They
rigged him out in 2007, the outcome was
Doctrine of Necessity. They rigged him out in
2011, the outcome was rudderless leadership.”
Buhari who is presently 71, would be 73 at the
time of the next presidential election. Though
he has not been reported to have suffered any
major health challenge, many are of the
opinion that at his age he should better give
his moral support to any of the younger
elements in the party.
Speaker Tambuwal, who is a member of the
PDP and has been the focus of many eyes as
the most likely candidate of the APC, was
endorsed by the National Assembly member.
One possible response of those aiming to
resolve the Buhari question is to conduct a
presidential primary which they claim Buhari
would lose.
In the last three elections he conducted he
almost always emerged on the basis of
consensus. In 2007 he was nominated as the
candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party,
ANPP only after Ahmed Yerima was forced to
step down on the convention ground.
In 2011, he was easily adopted as the
candidate of the Congress for Progressive, CPC
without a contest. In the APC, the former
military head of state is, however, bound to
meet strong opposition especially from those
desperate to stop the PDP.
How the new party responds to the issues
concerning Buhari would be a major factor in
determining its prospects in the 2015 election
which is now less than two years away.