POLITICS: Is Buhari afraid of Kwankwaso?

ADEYEMI ADEDEJI writes on the intrigues and efforts of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to frustrate Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to declare his intention to vie for the office of the president in Abuja recently.

In the run off to 2015 general elections, the name on the lips of many Nigerians ‎was Muhammadu Buhari, a ‘reformed democrat’ and a sort of messiah that Nigerians were waiting for.

The slogan was ‘change’, the reason was not far fetched, the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had made  a god of itself. The administration led by former president Goodluck Jonathan ‎had been enmeshed with corruption to the extent that the former president had to say on national television that what Nigerians were referring to as corruption were mere ‘stealing’. He shot himself on the leg. The statement alone was one of the many undoings of Jonathan in the run off to the election. Nigerians were desperate for a change of government, it became a case of Any Option But (AOB) Jonathan.

The then opposition party, the All Progressive‎ Congress (APC) smartly played on the emotions of Nigerians. The party came with a change agenda, to fight corruption that was already walking on the streets, the party promised Nigerians heaven on earth, it wasn’t difficult for them to convince Nigerians to vote for them as a continuity of PDP the government was seen as a suicidal. It became a smooth ride for General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. Besides, Buhari was also the consensus candidate of the north, he had no one to challenge him or put his cult like follower in the north to a test.

Fast forward to 2018, the popularity of the ruling party appears to be waned. The party’s politics of rhetorics  is no longer selling. Almost all the electioneering campaign promises have been broken, all promises were also cancelled. Corruption in the current administration remains a nightmare. Mr. Integrity posture of President Muhammadu Buhari is now a mirage. The ruling party now appears desperate to win the  forthcoming election.

However, the main opposition party, the PDP appears to be getting its mojo back. Unlike APC, it as been able to put its house in order. Hence, the number and the qualities of its presidential aspirants.

The former Governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had on last week Wednesday announced  his plan to declare for presidency on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the Eagle square in Abuja.

The sum of N2, 217, 600 was paid by Kwankwasiya group to Integrated Facility Services Limited on the 17th August, 2018 for the use of the facility. The planned presidential declaration of Kwankwaso was however halted by the Nigerian Police Force as they sealed off Eagle Square, venue of the event barely 24 hours before his declaration.

According to a letter dated August 27th, 2018 and signed by Usman Mukhtar Raji for the Facility Manager and received on August 28th, 2018, barely 24 hours to the scheduled declaration, the Abuja International Conference and Eagle Square, managed by the Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd has reversed itself in respect of approval granted the organisers of the declaration of Senator Kwankwaso.

The letter stated that, “we are sorry to inform you that the event can no longer hold on the said date because it is a political event and the 29th of August, 2018, happens to be a working day, as it would disrupt usual work flow of the federal Secretariat.

“We apologise for the oversight on our part to note the date in relation to the nature of the  event. We regret every inconvenience caused by this,” it said. The effort to use the old parade ground at Area 10 was also thwarted.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), said that it was  not aware of any application from the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation for the use of Eagle Square, and that It could not, therefore, have known that Rasy International Properties Ltd was the same as Kwankwaso campaign organization.

FCTA noted that it was also pertinent to invite the attention of the public to a certain religious festival early in the year during which the entire Abuja city centre was shut down by a mammoth crowd of adherents.

The various roads were closed and intractable traffic gridlocks arose in various adjoining districts, coupled with a huge bedlam. Open spaces around the Eagle Square were converted into conveniences and mounts of filth presented a huge task for the Abuja sanitation agency. There were also attendant security apprehensions and chaos.

Little wonder therefore it became necessary for the managers of the nation’s capital to review the user policy for the facility.

“Again, it must be restated that filing the application for the use of the Square in the name of a barely known organisation, Rasy International Properties Ltd, based in Kano did not help matters.  Subsequently, confronted with heightened security concern, the facility managers seemed to have had no option but to cancel the request.  It must also be stated that this is not the first time this is happening. Rasy International Properties Ltd was simply the loudest.”

Reacting to the development however, the First Spokesperson of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Ikenga Ugochinyere, said that the denial of  Kwankwaso of the use of the venue was the act of growing culture of impunity.

Contrary to the excuse given by the FCTA, Ugochinyere argued that on July 10, 2018, the Buhari Youth Support Organization organised a rally at the Eagle Square which ended in fracas.

Also, he stressed that on May 29, 2015, which was on  Friday, Buhari was sworn in at the Eagle square as President.

Meanwhile, on 13th June, 2014, APC had its national convention where John Oyegun was elected and Buhari and APC leaders were there. It was a working day.

“On November 19, 2014, which was on Wednesday, APC had their salvation rally that had Buhari, El-Rufai and other chieftains of the APC in attendance. So where are these excuses coming from? He queried.

Despite the efforts of the ruling party to frustrate his  declaration therefore, the former Minister of Defence later held the event at Chida Hotel, where a sea of heads with red caps took over the Jabi district of Abuja.

The serving senator not only declared to vie for the office of the president but also presented his manifestos. He said that his determination to vie for the office of the president under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was  to offer a paradigm shift in leadership, adding that the narrative of poverty, insecurity and hopelessness must change to turn to a new dawn of confidence in building a well restructured Nigeria.

He “Your resolve to come, I am convinced, was informed by our collective disillusionment, disappointment and the pervasive air of hopelessness in our country today. Your desire to see things change for better is well-informed and inner conviction that together we can midwife positive change is applauded.”

“There is no gainsaying that all is not well with the polity. It is also clear that the same mind-set that created and escalated the problems cannot be used in resolving the on-going crises in our nationhood and national development. I offer positive change. Change has again become inevitable.

“To live is to witness changes because change is an inseparable part of living. Come May 2019, the narrative of helplessness, buck passing. division, poverty, insecurity and hopelessness must change to turn to a new dawn of confidence in building a one well restructured Nigeria.

“I assure you that while I do not have the prophetic power to predict the future. We certainly have in us the ability to create the future that we want.

“On this day, as I stand before you I offer you a value based leadership anchored on our National Ethics as outlined in Chapter 2 of Section 23 of our constitution and I quote; the National Ethics shall be Discipline. Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance. Self-reliance and Patriotism.”

“I will provide a leadership where everybody is free and equal; where Nigerians see themselves as Nigerians first and as Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, ljaw, lbibio. Fulani, etc second; where elites are self-assured and self-assertive; where they are confident and competent: where they want to do what is right no matter whose ox is gored. I want to lead a Nigeria where people are educated and exposed beyond the confines of their tribe, religion, linguistic group or place of birth.

On security, Kwankwaso stressed that there was the need for a welI-timed, motivated, well-equipped and intelligence propelled security architecture, saying this requires decisive options of strengthening and equipping the military while restructuring the Police to make it more effective.

He also promised to vigorously pursue other institutional reforms in the other security and paramilitary agencies and justice system that would serve as a huge disincentive for crimes and criminality.

“The constant misuse of security apparatus will stop immediately. Ours is a recommitment to strengthening all democratic institutions in Nigeria,” he added.