Buhari and saboteurs in his government

By Iheanacho Nwosu
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is, again, on the spot. His claim that some people in his government are sabotaging him is drawing massive reactions from the public. The Presi­dent made the statement during an interview with international television outfit, Al Jazeera.
It is the second time in about a month that Buhari’s media outing while on a foreign trip would be trailed by a flurry of reactions from a wide spectrum of Nigerians. Recently, his interview with the Independent of London where he was quoted as saying that Nigeri­ans are in prisons across the globe because of criminal engagements sparked widespread fire in the polity. The dust that was thrown up by the interview is yet to settle before the last weekend’s outing. Asked specifically if he suspected any act of sabotage in the 2016 budget controversy, he replied , with less hesi­tation, “certainly”.
In the interview, he said that there are some persons in his administration who are not “100 per cent loyal” to his government. Buhari was speaking in an interview he had with Al Jazeera during his recent trip to Qatar. He described the controversies surrounding the 2016 budget as unfortunate, saying those responsible for the embarrassment will not go unpunished. When asked if he meant there were those sabotaging his government, he re­plied: “Certainly!”
He said: “So, we cannot assume that all of them are 100 per cent loyal to this govern­ment.” He delved into another controversial issue. And it is about Nigeria’s membership of an Islamic body, Saudi Arabia Islamic Co­alition. He justified Nigeria’s enlistment into the body this way: “We are part of the Islamic coalition because we have got terrorists in Ni­geria, which everybody knows and the terror­ists claim to be Islamic”.
He continued: “So, if there is an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, we will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terror­ism.
“Boko Haram has declared loyalty to ISIS and ISIS is based in Islamic countries, and if there is a coalition to fight them, why shouldn’t we be part of it, particularly when those fighting the country claim to be Mus­lims, although what they are doing is against Islam?”
Asked if non-Muslims would not feel that he is attempting to change the religious identity of the country, The President replied: “Why can’t those Christians that complain fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militants in the South? It is Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of the religious bigots”
Many people are unlikely to give perspica­cious judgment to the President’s reason for taking Nigeria to the Saudi Islamic coalition. It will certainly be festooned with religious colouration. In fact, some may even see the move as a vindication of those who posited during the electioneering that Buhari would islamise the country if voted President.
“We have listened to the President on why he dragged Nigeria to Saudi Islamic Organ­isation. One of the fears people, especially Christians expressed during the campaign is that he would Islamise Nigeria if he becomes President. Everybody is keenly watching him. We all want the government to fight terrorism and eradicate it totally in our land. But we are discerning enough to know when the admin­istration wants to hide under terrorism for other insidious plans”, a cleric , Dr Osmond Peters said .
Peters, who is also a university lecturer, added: “ So far I cannot say he has done anything that deserves criticism. I may not be satisfied with the way he explained Nigeria’s membership of the organisation, I still think we all need to work with him in the search for a solution to the security challenge the country is facing”.
For Osita Okechukwu, a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President did not err in anyway. He argued that the President was carrying Nigeria along in ev­erything he does, stressing that it was on account of that he disclosed the extent his government had gone in ensuring that terrorism is defeated.
According to him, if countries in the Lake Chad Basin Commission, comprising Cam­eroon, Chad, Niger and Benin are members of the coalition, there was nothing wrong in Nigeria enlisting in the body. “The President is concerned about how to free Nigeria from the shackle of terrorism and not the senti­ments that some people are expressing”, Oke­chukwu contended.
Although the issue of Nigeria’s member­ship of the Saudi terrorism coalition is gen­erating ripples, the President’s confirmation that there are saboteurs in his government is generating huge interest, at least going by comments on the Facebook and other online portals .
Diverse interpretations, some ethnically and politically inclined, are being given to the statement. For the President’s critics, es­pecially members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), it is a confirmation that the gov­ernment is divided.
There is no hiding the fact that Buhari is rattled by the controversies that have dogged the 2016 Appropriation. Not only did he sack the Director General of Budget Office, Alhaji Yahaya Gusau and replaced him with Tijjani Abdullahi, he also vowed to deal with indi­viduals who are responsible for the padding of the budget.
“The Presidency has shown transparency in the handling of every issue concerning the budget and the nation generally. He respond­ed swiftly when it was discovered that the budget had been doctored. PDP government never did that because it promoted corrup­tion”, Okechukwu claimed.
But for Peters, the budget brouhaha dented the image of the APC government. He ar­gued: “I think the image of this government has been dented by the budget scandal. The government told us it is here to do things dif­ferently but we haven’t seen that.
“Nigerians should be grateful to the Sen­ate for detecting the fraud. Initially, some of us who didn’t like the way Bukola Saraki emerged as Senate President though he was merely looking for something to burnish his image. But everything has shown that the Senate acted in national interest.
“So, the President is not wrong for saying that some people are not 100 per cent loyal and committed to what his government be­lieves. They want the corruption that was in place to continue”.
However, the President’s claim is likely to throw up more questions and debates in several circles. The reason is that Buhari’s statement was not perspicuous enough. For instance, is it only in the budget office that he has elements who are sabotaging his govern­ment or do they also exist in other sectors? Are some ministers also among those their loyalty to him are in doubt?
There is no doubt that there are some grum­bling within the PDP. The crack has led to varied rumours and conjectures. Initially, leaders of the party were a bit dodgy, claiming that everything was alright. They no longer doubt the existence of crevices in the ranks of the party. Now, is the problem within the party creeping into government and causing some interests to sabotage the President?
Unless the government clarifies some of these concerns, some people are likely to continue to peddle strange rumours regarding happenings in the administration.