The recent ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election of President Goodluck Jonathan, has raised questions over the political future of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Sam Egburonu, Sunday Oguntola, and Kolade Adeyemi in Kano, report that the general is not ready to give up.
When the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, on last week upheld the election of President Goodluck Jonathan of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the major concerns of political watchers was the likely political future of the chief petitioner, General Mohammadu Buhari. Buhari, the presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, challenging the announced results and praying that the result of the April presidential election be upturned in his favour.
Before the ruling, Buhari was quoted as saying he would no longer contest for elections if his current quest is aborted. This claim elicited speculations that the ruling would mark the end of his political career.
But reactions of his associates after the ruling suggest that he would remain active in the country’s political scene. Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson of CPC, told The Nation, immediately after the ruling that Buhari will not give up the fight, pointing out that the ruling will not mark the end of Buhari’s political career.
He said that the ruling was faulty from the beginning. “How can the judges say CPC failed to substantiate its allegation that the presidential poll was fraught with irregularities that substantially affected the result of the election, when it was the same court that destroyed the two planks upon which CPC would have proved its case without hindrance?”
According to him, the removal of the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, was part of the grand plan to stop Buhari.
Another plank was the refusal of CPC’s request to subject some of the controversial votes to forensic test.
According to him, once these two planks were removed, CPC was advised by its counsel to withdraw because the case had been castrated. “We only continued because we decided to allow some judges to also put their names on record either for good or for bad.”
The development notwithstanding, he argued that Buhari will not give up even though he has been short-changed. According to him, “General Buhari has made it clear that he would forever remain on the vanguard of liberating Nigeria from the clutches of exploiters. So, it is a commitment for life. He said as long as he is still breathing, he will continue to play his part to help achieve positive change in Nigeria.”
This position was in line with the pronouncements made by other major officers of the party after the ruling. The National Chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, for example, did not waste any time before he told pressmen that CPC will appeal the ruling.
This is not the first time the dogged general would be going to court to contest results of elections. It is also not the first time he would threaten to quit the stage only to return to the political war field.
In 2003, he contested against former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He lost and went to court to challenge the results.
After that encounter, it was speculated that the former military Head of State would retire from active political life.
But in 2007, Buhari re-emerged as ANPP’s presidential candidate. He lost again to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari was inconsolable. He insisted he was rigged out. So, he headed to court to seek redress. The legal tussle dragged for months. Battle-wearied, many members of the party started querying the wisdom in the prolonged court case. Some were fascinated by the offer of National Government of Unity (GNU) from Yar’Adua. They wanted to have a share of government patronage. His running mate and national chairman of ANPP, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezuoke, led this group. But Buhari, ever a hardliner, would have nothing of it. For him, it was either his victory or nothing else.
All the months the battle lasted, ANPP was in utter disarray. The party’s engine was practically knocked. The leadership was polarised. The pro-Buhari elements wanted to see the legal battle to a conclusive end. His opponents wanted to have none of it. The interregnum persisted for months, even years. Eventually, feeling betrayed, Buhari opted out. He left the party when it became obvious he was no more welcome. The late Ume-Ezuoke has joined the GNU of Yar’Adua.
Since 2007, Buhari remained without a party. It was not until 2010 that he became active again in the political scene. He formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which was registered in November 2010. The 2011 Presidential election was just five months away. But the party hit the ground running, sweeping the entire North like a hurricane. It drew appeal mainly from the Northern masses. The Almajiris and commoners in North saw the party as their own. Some pollsters started predicting a major political revolution in the coming elections. But it was not to be.
After managing few seats in the National Assembly elections in the North, the party lost out completely at the governorship election. It won only Nassarawa State and not in Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Niger, against all expectations. In all, CPC won six senatorial seats and 30 in the House of Representatives.
Now that the tribunal declared that he lost the presidential elections, some observers are wondering whether his problems have something to do with his political strategies. There are also questions as to whether he was being frustrated by a clique or a political cabal?
Mohammed Junaid, a long time associate of the retired general said: “I don’t know anything about any cabal, which is opposed to Buhari becoming the president of this country but certainly there are people, individuals who are in pursuit of their own selfish interests, who see him as a threat. Remember that Buhari contested against a man that belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party, a party that is made up of opportunists and butchers of our national economy, so if they do not want Buhari to be president, it is understandable. I want you to note also that even those who wanted Buhari to become the president of this country had their own selfish interests, so, nobody can be loved hundred percent out of over 150 million people. Some people are bound to be envious or to hate you for what you are and what you stand for and that is part of human nature.”
GENERAL Mohammadu Buhari came into public notice on December 31, 1983, when he emerged the Head of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), a group that overthrew Alhaji Shehu Shagari, three months after his re-election. One of the major legacies of the regime of this hard-faced general and his no-nonsense deputy, the late General Tunde Idiagbon, was a novel war it prosecuted against indiscipline which largely instilled fear into Nigerians.
Given the cycle of his defeats at the polls and in courts, some observers, are of the opinion that the best option for the former Head of State at this time may be to retire as a statesman. It seems however that Buhari and his closest associates would not hear of it. So, the battle continues
When the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, on last week upheld the election of President Goodluck Jonathan of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the major concerns of political watchers was the likely political future of the chief petitioner, General Mohammadu Buhari. Buhari, the presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, challenging the announced results and praying that the result of the April presidential election be upturned in his favour.
Before the ruling, Buhari was quoted as saying he would no longer contest for elections if his current quest is aborted. This claim elicited speculations that the ruling would mark the end of his political career.
But reactions of his associates after the ruling suggest that he would remain active in the country’s political scene. Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson of CPC, told The Nation, immediately after the ruling that Buhari will not give up the fight, pointing out that the ruling will not mark the end of Buhari’s political career.
He said that the ruling was faulty from the beginning. “How can the judges say CPC failed to substantiate its allegation that the presidential poll was fraught with irregularities that substantially affected the result of the election, when it was the same court that destroyed the two planks upon which CPC would have proved its case without hindrance?”
According to him, the removal of the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, was part of the grand plan to stop Buhari.
Another plank was the refusal of CPC’s request to subject some of the controversial votes to forensic test.
According to him, once these two planks were removed, CPC was advised by its counsel to withdraw because the case had been castrated. “We only continued because we decided to allow some judges to also put their names on record either for good or for bad.”
The development notwithstanding, he argued that Buhari will not give up even though he has been short-changed. According to him, “General Buhari has made it clear that he would forever remain on the vanguard of liberating Nigeria from the clutches of exploiters. So, it is a commitment for life. He said as long as he is still breathing, he will continue to play his part to help achieve positive change in Nigeria.”
This position was in line with the pronouncements made by other major officers of the party after the ruling. The National Chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, for example, did not waste any time before he told pressmen that CPC will appeal the ruling.
This is not the first time the dogged general would be going to court to contest results of elections. It is also not the first time he would threaten to quit the stage only to return to the political war field.
In 2003, he contested against former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He lost and went to court to challenge the results.
After that encounter, it was speculated that the former military Head of State would retire from active political life.
But in 2007, Buhari re-emerged as ANPP’s presidential candidate. He lost again to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari was inconsolable. He insisted he was rigged out. So, he headed to court to seek redress. The legal tussle dragged for months. Battle-wearied, many members of the party started querying the wisdom in the prolonged court case. Some were fascinated by the offer of National Government of Unity (GNU) from Yar’Adua. They wanted to have a share of government patronage. His running mate and national chairman of ANPP, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezuoke, led this group. But Buhari, ever a hardliner, would have nothing of it. For him, it was either his victory or nothing else.
All the months the battle lasted, ANPP was in utter disarray. The party’s engine was practically knocked. The leadership was polarised. The pro-Buhari elements wanted to see the legal battle to a conclusive end. His opponents wanted to have none of it. The interregnum persisted for months, even years. Eventually, feeling betrayed, Buhari opted out. He left the party when it became obvious he was no more welcome. The late Ume-Ezuoke has joined the GNU of Yar’Adua.
Since 2007, Buhari remained without a party. It was not until 2010 that he became active again in the political scene. He formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which was registered in November 2010. The 2011 Presidential election was just five months away. But the party hit the ground running, sweeping the entire North like a hurricane. It drew appeal mainly from the Northern masses. The Almajiris and commoners in North saw the party as their own. Some pollsters started predicting a major political revolution in the coming elections. But it was not to be.
After managing few seats in the National Assembly elections in the North, the party lost out completely at the governorship election. It won only Nassarawa State and not in Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Niger, against all expectations. In all, CPC won six senatorial seats and 30 in the House of Representatives.
Now that the tribunal declared that he lost the presidential elections, some observers are wondering whether his problems have something to do with his political strategies. There are also questions as to whether he was being frustrated by a clique or a political cabal?
Mohammed Junaid, a long time associate of the retired general said: “I don’t know anything about any cabal, which is opposed to Buhari becoming the president of this country but certainly there are people, individuals who are in pursuit of their own selfish interests, who see him as a threat. Remember that Buhari contested against a man that belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party, a party that is made up of opportunists and butchers of our national economy, so if they do not want Buhari to be president, it is understandable. I want you to note also that even those who wanted Buhari to become the president of this country had their own selfish interests, so, nobody can be loved hundred percent out of over 150 million people. Some people are bound to be envious or to hate you for what you are and what you stand for and that is part of human nature.”
GENERAL Mohammadu Buhari came into public notice on December 31, 1983, when he emerged the Head of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), a group that overthrew Alhaji Shehu Shagari, three months after his re-election. One of the major legacies of the regime of this hard-faced general and his no-nonsense deputy, the late General Tunde Idiagbon, was a novel war it prosecuted against indiscipline which largely instilled fear into Nigerians.
Given the cycle of his defeats at the polls and in courts, some observers, are of the opinion that the best option for the former Head of State at this time may be to retire as a statesman. It seems however that Buhari and his closest associates would not hear of it. So, the battle continues
No comments:
Post a Comment