By Bala Ibrahim
President Muhammadu Buhari recently axed David Babachir Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, as well as the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, for their alleged roles in certain ignominious acts unbecoming of their offices. Further to that, he has authorised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to take it up from there by further looking into those allegations. PMB’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in a statement said, “the position of the President therefore is that investigation agencies which have already commenced the investigation of the two officers removed from office will go on with their work of investigation without any interference or hindrance.”
The past month was a trying one for PMB as his resilience was put to the type of acidic test capable of unsettling any unprepared leader and derailing him from whatever focus he may have.
Among the many troubling issues was the so-called recent recall and reinstatement of former chairman of the presidential task team on pension reform, Abdulrasheed Maina into the civil service. He was alleged to have been promoted to the position of director of human resources at the ministry of interior.
Maina left the country 2013 in a shoddy circumstance after he was accused of heading a huge pension fraud of over N100 billion. The police was on his trail as he was said to have escaped to another country.
The worrisome part of the Maina saga was the alleged involvement of two members of PMB’s cabinet. Media reports have fingered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, as well as Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau. There are other reports speculating the involvement of the Director-General of the Department of Secret Service (DSS), Lawal Musa Daura.
While all that was raging, a Senator of the Federal Republic, Isa Misau, went to testify before a Senate committee, and dropped the hint that the wife of the president asked for and obtained two personal vehicles from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris.
Already, the IGP has been accused of corruption and official misconduct by the same senator, and it was in his attempt to substantiate those allegations that he brought in the wife of the president.
Meanwhile, the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu has remained in acting capacity since his appointment almost three years ago, as the Nigeria Senate refused to confirm his appointment on the excuse that he has questions to answer regarding his integrity.
In similar vein, the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali had a running battle with the Nigerian Senate which reverberated all over the country in a manner that was meant to stall him from running the Customs effectively.
Also, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Yusuf Buratai had his own share of media smear at the time he was busy with combating the insurgency that had ravaged north-eastern part of the country for so long.
In all of the above instances, one common denominator has been that an active member of the president’s cabinet, a close appointee, associate or family member is being targeted to be ridiculed. The media, knowingly or otherwise, have become accomplices of conspiracies they are not originally part of. Every available opportunity to undermine these people, derail, intimidate, accuse, browbeat, scandalize and tarnish them is being searched for and when found, seized with gusto.
It would appear that the sudden explosion of barrages of allegations against these officials is not accidental. The masterminds have meticulously planned them to come in torrents in such a manner that will overwhelm the president. I have previously warned against such distractive strategies, even pointing out that that the main target was President Buhari himself. Beyond distraction, they intend to expose the president to attacks he would not be able to defend, after haven stripped him of his active and loyal lieutenants.
For instance, how does one explain the recent unsubstantiated allegations of Senator Misau against the IGP and the elaborate chance given to him by the Senate through its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to proof same? But rather than come with evidence, the senator appeared before the committee to pile up more allegations of similar worth. This time, he saw an opportunity to drag the name of the president’s wife in the mud, and he seized it. He turned the truth on its head and created such a drama. He never minded telling outright lies in order to achieve his purpose. He said official vehicles provided for the police officers in the wife of the president’s entourage were bought for her personal use. We should not forget that his initial allegations were still unsubstantiated.
While the press was awash with the allegations of the involvement of principal officers of this government in the Maina saga, no one sought to question the source of those claims. Everyone was carried away by the personalities being mentioned. Their positions in government, their closeness to the president and their commitment to his cause were the gravitating forces that attract so much attention. Those who were planning those smear campaign are aware of the vulnerability of Nigerians to in this regard.
This is where the president would need to be cautious not to be rushed into taking actions that will serve the very interest of the evil planners, who right from the onset, outplayed him and took control of the second most important arm of government, the National Assembly. In the first instance, he should realize that none of those political schemers has national interest in mind. No matter what the president does, it is negative side they would look and project. PMB had met with some of them today. But he must be more careful, as unrushed and meticulous analysis of the whole scenario would reveal the very truth that is being buried.
It is equally important to note that more attempts to scandalize the president, his immediate family, friends and associates are in the offing. These would be done in order to throw the president off balance and derail him completely from his work. And as such missiles are launched at him by the principal players in the game, his resilience would be put to the strictest test to measure his absorbing capacity and his composure.
The year of electioneering is near, and political players are already stabbing with their daggers to draw the most blood from opponents and, of course, there is no better opponent to strike than the incumbent. This is why care must be taken not to play into the hands of waiting opponents.
One other thing worthy of note is that all these plans are veiled in two ways. One, the noise makers, blackmailers and accusers are not the deciding characters in the drama. At a larger stage, the main players are quietly directing their lackeys, manoeuvring them to serve their own personal purposes. Two, those at the obvious receiving ends are not the target. At a deeper stage, the main aim is the presidency and by implication, the president’s line of defense must be decimated in order to get him exposed to more direct attacks. The less attractive Mr. President is to the electorate, the closer they are to the presidency, or so they think. The opposition PDP was quick to call on its allies in the Senate to commence impeachment process against the president because of the two sacked officials. It is opening like this they have long been waiting for and they would always strike through their lackeys, that are pretending to be with the president.
On the whole, President Muhammadu Buhari’s men will continue to be under attack till 2019, particularly the police leadership that holds the key to peaceful and successful election, but the offensives that are hauled at them are not meant for them. They are meant for a bigger target. The president must therefore be vigilant, rally his men round himself and be ready to defend while launching counter-offenses. In the meantime, he should not allow himself to be unnecessarily distracted by characters in orchestrated political dramas.
Ibrahim wrote from Abuja
