The Many Conflicts In Corridors Of Power

The many conflicts in corridors of power

In-fighting have become a recurring decimal among officials of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration within the last few months.

Daily Trust takes a look at the theatrics of some of these frictions that have created bad blood among key government functionaries and their loyalists, thereby hampering government business.

Kachikwu Vs Baru

In what appeared as a continuation of the supremacy battle between the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, the minister recently released a ‘bombshell’ letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing the NNPC boss of flagrant violation of due process in the award of contracts and acts of insubordination.

In the letter to the president, which was leaked to the media,  the minister accused the NNPC boss of labelling him as “corrupt”, “anti-north,” and also being “in collusion with militants”, in order to convince the president on the need to side-line him in the decision-making process in the state-run oil firm. Kachikwu also alleged that Baru awarded about $24 billion major contracts without his input or review by the NNPC board. 

After maintaining initial silence, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, last week responded, describing the allegations by Kachikwu against its Group Managing Director, Baru, as baseless even as it accused the minister of exaggerating and concocting figures to give vent to his claims.

Kachikwu later met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa but declined to speak with reporters on the outcome of their meeting. Although the two aggrieved government officials (Kachikwu and Baru) eventually met at a public function in Abuja last week where they exchanged handshakes, not many were convinced that the dust raised between the two top players in the petroleum industry is settled.

Aisha Buhari Vs Presidency

Even as the dust raised by the Kachikwu, Baru brickbat was yet to settle, First Lady Aisha Buhari, publicly upbraided the Chief Medical Director of the State House Medical Centre, Dr. Husain Munir, for the poor state of the health facility established to take care of the President, Vice-President, their families as well as members of staff of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Aisha who spoke at the opening of a two-day stakeholders’ meeting on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa admitted that Nigeria was unstable in the last six months owing largely to the President’s ill-health that forced him to remain outside the country for months.

Maintaining that the budget allocated to the clinic must be accounted for, she said: “I am sure Dr. Munir will not like me saying this but I have to say it out. As the Chief Medical Director, there are a lot of constructions going on in this hospital but there is no single syringe there.

Sagay Vs APC  

Earlier in July, a verbal warfare had broken out between the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Professor Itse Sagay, one of the key aides directing President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight. Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, PACAC, had in a national newspaper, described the APC leadership as lily-livered, weak and incompetent. 

Sagay had said: “As for the leadership of the APC, I think they are the most unprincipled group of people. They are lily-livered, weak, and cannot run any organisation.  The whole party is collapsing under them. They cannot control anybody. Because they cannot control anybody, they’re now, in fact, encouraging and accepting ‘rogues.’ When I say rogues, I don’t mean stealing. In literature, when you say someone is a rogue elephant, it means people who are running riot and destroying the party. ”

The National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC  promptly fired back, describing Sagay as a ‘rogue elephant’, while also warning all appointees of President Buhari to show respect and decorum to the party which won the victory that made them occupy the offices they hold.

A statement issued by the party had read: “The Webster dictionary defines ‘rogue elephant’ as “one whose behaviour resembles that of a rogue elephant in being aberrant or independent. Clearly, if we have today, anyone in our government or, by extension, the party who feels accountable only to his own ego; who does not feel the need to bridle his tongue for the sake of anything that is higher than himself; who feels independent of everyone and every institution; that person is Professor Sagay.”

Magu Vs DSS

Ibrahim Magu, the fourth chief executive of the EFCC, assumed office on November 9 last year as acting chairman of the agency following his appointed two days earlier by President Muhammadu Buhari to succeed Ibrahim Lamorde. But the Senate declined to confirm Magu as substantive chairman of the EFCC on December 15 last year based on an incriminating report by the DSS. Though he was presented again to the upper chamber in January after an alleged executive inquest absolved him of wrongdoing, Magu was rejected for the second time by the Senate on March 15 during its confirmation hearing.

The second report, signed by one Folashade Bello on behalf of the director-general of DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura, portrayed Magu as tainted and unfit to head the anti-graft body. It referred to indictments of the EFCC boss by disciplinary authorities and his alleged illegal sharing of classified materials. One of the key references was with regard to minutes of the 20th plenary meeting of the Police Service Commission on December20, 2010, chaired by Mr. Parry Osayande, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, who was then chairman of the commission. 

“The minutes indicate that Magu was indicted after a disciplinary process and awarded Severe Reprimand for, ‘Action prejudicial to state security, withholding of EFFC files, sabotage, unauthorized removal of EFCC files, and acts unbecoming of a police officer,’” the report noted, adding, “It is worthy to note here that Severe Reprimand is the second highest punishment to be given to an erring officer, other than compulsory retirement or dismissal from service.”

Responding, to the query  through the Attorney-general of the Federation and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, on the DSS allegations, Magu said that it was not true that some documents relating to cases under investigation were found his house when his residence was searched on the orders of Mrs. Farida Waziri, shortly after she succeeded Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as Chairman.

Hameed Ali boss Vs Senate

Earlier in March, the Senate has asked the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), to appear “in plenary in uniform unfailingly.” The Senators had previously attacked Ali for honouring their invitation without wearing uniform.

The invitation came when members of the Senate were pushing for drastic action against the NCS and the D-G over the refusal to suspend action on the proposed clampdown on vehicles without duty payment, as ordered by the legislature.

Part of the actions proposed by the senate was to summon Ali to appear before all the lawmakers in the chamber in Customs uniform, which the NSC boss had earlier refused to wear.

But Ali, who spoke with State House correspondents shortly after emerging from the mosque at the Presidential Villa, Abuja called the bluff of the Senate, saying he would not honour the invitation extended to him by the upper legislative chamber to appear before them in uniform.

He said his attendance at the Senate plenary as scheduled by the federal lawmakers would be subjudice. 

There was a touch of comedy as the Customs boss who was wearing a white kaftan jokingly told the reporters that the kaftan is his uniform, pointing out that he had received the writ of summons from the case instituted by a concerned individual on the matter.

Hameed Vs Kemi Adeosun

There  was also the  war of attrition between the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retired) and the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun who took different positions on the revenue accruing into the money spinning para-military government agency.

Although signs that all was not well in the relationship between the duo were initially under wraps as no one was willing to speak publicly about it, the rift came to public awareness when Ali promoted and demoted some men and officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)  without recourse to the Finance Minister. Matters came to a head in the National Assembly when the duo appeared to defend their 2016 budget before the Senate Committee on Finance.

The rift was obvious when Ali and Adeosun gave divergent figures and positions on items and figures in their budgets. 

Magu Vs Malami

Similarly, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Acting EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu were involved in a feud which subsequently became public knowledge.

Malami had specifically blamed Magu for causing the suspension of Nigeria from the Egmont Group, an international anti-corruption body with over 135 member countries. The AGF had also accused the EFCC boss of breaching Section 10 (1) of the EFCC Act which states that the EFCC must send complex cases to the AGF for better cooperation and prosecution.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari was investigating the feud between the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

Mohammed who spoke during a breakfast show on Channels Television titled, ‘Sunrise Daily’ admitted that there was a disagreement between the EFCC boss and the AGF but added that it was not as bad as it was being portrayed. He said both parties had the best interest of Nigeria at heart but only differed on approach and methodology.

 “The President is aware and is investigating it. He is the employer of both of them. There are divergent views between the AGF and the EFCC chairman and the appropriate authorities will look into it”, he reportedly said.

‘Mama Taraba’ Vs Buhari

A shocking twist was added to the many conflicts in the corridors of power when the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, announced her endorsement of a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, for the 2019 presidential election.

The minister, popularly known as ‘Mama Taraba’ made the endorsement when she led a private visit to the former vice president who is a chieftain of Nigeria’s ruling APC. 

 Mrs. Alhassan who was the APC governorship candidate in Taraba in the 2015 election which she narrowly lost to the current Peoples Democratic Party governor, restated her position during an interview with BBC Hausa. She added that even if President Muhammadu Buhari decides to contest in 2019, she would still support Mr. Abubakar.

The APC reacting through its Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Segun Oni said: “I am surprised that it happened in the first instance, but that is for the President and the party to talk about it at the appropriate time.” 

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, also criticized Aisha Alhassan and claims she was a supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari. El-Rufai while speaking with State House correspondents, after meeting with the president said he was not surprised that the minister openly endorsed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. El-Rufai also revealed that the Minister was not in Buhari’s camp during the presidential primary election of the APC and has never supported the president’s ideology.

NHIS boss Vs Health Minister

The enduring drama in the corridors of power took a new turn in July when Usman Yusuf, a professor of Paediatrics, who came on board as the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) last year, was given a marching order by Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole, to proceed on suspension for three months, following mounting petitions against alleged fraudulent practices and nepotism by concerned groups.

The letter suspending Yusuf was given to him on July 6, 2017, directing him to go on three months suspension to pave the way for an independent probe of the mountains of petitions against him. 

However, in a daring tone, Prof Yusuf fired back at the Health Minister on July 12, telling him to his face that he could not proceed on the suspension as the minister lacks the power to sanction him. Yusuf pointedly told Adewole that it was only the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who appointed him, that could remove him from office, which has tenure of five years in the first instance and another five, if renewed.

Although the House of Representatives, in a resolution against the suspension gave the minister seven days to reinstate him, the health ministry maintained that it had the right to suspend Yusuf and that he would remain suspended.  The Ministry later wrote to the Nigeria Police Force to secure the NHIS headquarters in Utako, Abuja, vows by the suspended Executive Secretary to resume.

The ministry recently, issued another statement extending the suspension indefinitely.

Amaechi Vs Sirika

There is also a silent cold war between the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and that of State for Aviation, Alhaji Hadi Sirika. Although aviation ministry is supposed to be under that of transportation, the junior minister who is expected to be reporting to Amaechi does not do so. The Aviation minister is said to be running his show his own way because of his closeness with President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The cold war between the two ministers was said to have reached a crescendo when the Aviation minister undertook several programmes in the sector without involving Amaechi. These include; the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja runway project; the floating of a new national carrier as well as concessioning of airports. The transportation minister is said to be unhappy with all these but is being careful not to ruffle political feathers.

Magu Vs Senate

Twice, the Nigerian Senate had rejected the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The lawmakers said they could not okay President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Magu based on security report available to them.

The Presidency had since July last year requested the Senate to confirm Mr. Magu through a letter signed by Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo in his capacity as acting president when Mr. Buhari travelled abroad for medical treatment.

Although the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read the vice-president’s letter on July 14, 2016 the red chamber failed to schedule a confirmation hearing fueling suspicions that some corrupt Senators were bent on blocking Magu from the position.

Following widespread pressure from Nigerians, the lawmakers fixed December 8 for the session but that also failed to materialize. Consequently, the Senate went into a standoff with the presidency, vowing to stand down all requests for confirmation into executive positions in the Federal Government. The Senate’s stance was based on the challenge from Osinbajo (then acting president) to the Senate’s capacity to confirm certain nominees of the executive into federal bodies. 

The lawmakers who were particularly miffed by the continued stay in office of  Magu as chairman of the EFCC, despite his rejection by the Senate on two occasions, passed a resolution  asking the Acting President to apologize for his challenge to the Senate’s power to confirm persons into certain executive bodies.

IGP Idris Vs Senator Misau

 Just as Nigerians were struggling to come to terms with the season of unending feuds, another nasty quarrel broke out between the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Isah Misau.

Misau, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), on August 10, 2017, alleged that policemen pay as much as ₦500,000 for “Special promotion.” The senator told newsmen that he was tired of complaints of bribe for promotions and transfer to “juicy” duty posts in the force as well as the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The senator also accused the IGP of collecting ₦120billion as payment for special security services rendered by the police to corporate bodies and oil firms, among others, annually.

The police through the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, in return, accused Misau of exiting the police unceremoniously, to escape punishment for misconducts and other inappropriate behaviours.

The police declared Misau a deserter, vowing to declare wanted. 

But the senator denied the allegations.

Before the dust could settle down, the senator fired another salvo, accusing the IGP of sexual impropriety with female police officers and abuse of office. The senator alleged at the Senate’s plenary that the Idris had impregnated two female police officers and secretly married one in Kaduna.

Consequently, the Senate set-up an 8-member committee to probe IGP Idris on the allegations leveled against him by Senator Misau. 

However, the IGP has approached an Abuja Federal High Court, praying it restrain the Senate from carrying out the probe, explaining that it was against his fundamental rights.

Earlier, the Federal Government, on Tuesday, through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, filed charges against Misau, bordering on alleged falsehood against the IGP.