From By Wilfred Eya and Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
History was made yesterday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was sworn in as the 16th President of Nigeria.
The global attention was literally shifted to Nigeria as about 65 world leaders, including Heads of State were on ground to grace the colourful event.
At the nation’s seventh transition ceremony were past presidents, diplomats, heads of international organisations and prominent Nigerians and representatives of foreign governments and agencies.
For Nigerians, they are full of hope that the new administration will usher in a breadth of fresh air after what seemed like eight years of suffering from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
It was also a historic event in the nation’s democratic journey as the ruling party, APC, further consolidated its hold on power since it upstaged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 after it held sway for 16 unbroken years. The event was remarkably significant because, for the first time, the ruling party struggled to beat all odds to successfully transmute presidential power from one party member to another.
Every member of the APC family, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigerians in every other part of the country at home and in diaspora, and even the international community stood still for the swearing in of a brand new Nigerian President.
Against all odds and contrary to the expectations of many Nigerians and visible insurmountable hostilities, like harsh economy, escalating insecurity, and hopelessness in the country, the ruling party had coasted to victory, subduing all the daunting hurdles mounted by candidates of the opposition parties like Labour Party (LP) and the PDP, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar respectively.
The ruling party candidate, in fairness to him, had doggedly deployed every weapon in his arsenal, organised vigorous political campaign programmes that took him to every part of the country and beyond, introduced the novel town hall consultative meetings with relevant stakeholders, lobbied extensively, used legal and questionable means and perfected every winning strategy to be declared President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
For the new president, it was not only a case of going through a burning furnace but apparently a torturous long walk to victory. And in the pre-election consideration for many political pundits, the chances of the APC presidential candidate winning the February 25 election was as herculean as a Carmel going through the eyes of a needle.
Hostile factors like unstable harsh economic realities of the President Buhari-led government, the inauspicious cash redesign policy, the biting epileptic fuel crisis, escalating insecurity across the country, fuelled by banditry, insurgency, kidnapping, and disquieting crimes and criminalities had worsened the hurdles against the ruling party and its presidential candidate.
Beyond all that, the APC candidate resolutely went through the controversies that trailed the party primary which produced him as the winner of the 2023 presidential election, defying all odds to emerge against the run of play.
A combination of many factors apparently contributed to his victory. Such dynamics like the historic roles played by the northern governors on the platform of the party that insisted on power shift to the South, the seven presidential aspirants that voluntarily stepped down for him despite spending over N100 million on the rather exorbitant expression of interest, and nomination forms, his heavy war chest that helped to sway the delegates’ votes to his favour, among many other factors, actually facilitated the victory for Asiwaju.
On the flip side, that he however surmounted several obstacles, including self-inflicted ones like his unguarded utterances, controversy over his health challenges, the hullabaloo about certificate scandal and identity crisis, his disputed dual nationality questions, several gaffes he committed during campaigns and stakeholders’ forum engagements, among others, to emerge winner, made the victory even sweeter.
And despite the initial criticisms and condemnation that trailed his emergence, both at home, in diaspora, and from the international community, commendations and congratulations messages have poured in from world leaders and Presidents of reputable countries across the globe to authenticate his victory at the poll.
Although some political watchers claimed that the President may have gone out of his way to shop for majority of the recognitions that came through the congratulatory messages considering the length of time it took some of them, he has however got the mileage he needed to validate his victory.
At the last count, congratulatory messages had come from the United States government, the United Kingdom, China, Turkey, several African countries and other parts of the globe to endorse him and declare readiness to identify with the Tinubu-led APC administration.
However, despite the recognitions from the continent and world leaders, Tinubu had continued to fight one battle or the other since his declaration after the presidential poll.
It is either he is perfecting his legal team to battle the legal fireworks at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, or his team would be managing the backlash trailing his suspicious frequent trips to Europe that have been misconstrued for medical reasons. He has also recently battled his controversial decision to endorse the micro-zoning of the principal officers of the 10th National Assembly.
However, after overcoming the greatest legal scare concerning the rulings at the Supreme Court hanging on his neck as an albatross, the antagonisms from his adversaries was finally laid to rest yesterday when he takes the oath to become the 16th President of Nigeria and confidently prosecute the numerous campaign promises and laudable messages in his Renewed Hope manifesto.
On what actually did the magic for the APC candidate in the presidential election, former Military Administrator of Borno State, Col Abdulmumini Aminu (retd) gave the credit to the resolutions of the northern governors that insisted that power must shift to the South.
According to him; “Let me confess that what worked in favour of the APC is that every average Nigerian is very tired of us, the Hausa Fulani. I have to be specific also in admitting that. Again, the Northern governors in their wisdom had insisted that power must shift to the South. They also contributed in no small measure to ensuring APC’s victory. They stood their ground in insisting that only a power shift can guarantee peace and stability in this country.
“The peace and tranquility we saw before, during, and after the election in this dispensation came from the show of maturity and fair play from these governors. Lack of unity in the country is our biggest drawback and the greatest undoing of this country,” he argued.
Appraising Tinubu’s victory, the Katsina-born military officer said: “I was totally confident that APC was going to win. I did not have any iota of doubt or fear in my mind about what would be the outcome of the election. All indicators showed that APC was ahead right from the onset. It was a fantastic outing by the governors who did that magic.
“They deployed everything, resources, and capacities, to ensure that power did not only shift to the South but also that their choice won. That decision and victory saved the country lots of upheavals as the South would not have forgiven the North if they had not allowed power shift. The North has consistently held the power and unless we start shifting this kind of parochial interest spreading nationwide then I am sorry for the country.
“It is not that I did not see Atiku and Peter Obi as threats to the APC candidate, but I saw the threat as a minimal one. What actually did the magic was that the PDP was totally divided, otherwise, Rabiu Kwankwaso would not have joined NNPP, Obi would not have joined LP, Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, would not have led the five governors in a rebellion.
“There was so much division in the PDP, which cost them so much because if you see the number of votes those people generated for the APC. If the votes had gone to the PDP, the APC would have been in trouble. God made it possible for them to be divided for the benefit of the APC,” he noted.
But for many pundits, Tinubu will be coming to power at the most challenging period and trying phase of the country. He will inherit a bleeding country battling several economic quagmires, a country bogged down by the planned removal of fuel subsidy, spiraling inflation at an all-time high, insecurity, crime, and criminality across the country.
And so, beyond the euphoria of the victory, the razzmatazz and carnival-like celebration of today’s inauguration, the realities before the brand-new President would be to first eschew the bitterness of the campaign, the myriads of the pitfalls and mundane issues of ethnicity, nepotism, and cabal that characterised the President Buhari-led APC government in the past eight years.
When the realities of the humongous tasks before him will eclipse, the bliss of election triumph and inauguration, and looking beyond the distracting litigations, Tinubu, an acclaimed grandmaster in political gamesmanship, has his job cut out for him with the myriad of promises he made in his renewed hope manifesto during his campaigns across the country.
From the South East, to the North West, South-South, North Central to the South West and North East, his promises in commerce/industry, energy, education, corruption, insecurity, and unity of the country and the Niger Delta still resonate loudly in the minds of many Nigerians.
Arguably, the harsh economic realities, escalating insecurity across the country, lingering energy crisis, and more importantly the disquiet and anger by many Nigerians and public perception over his emergence will conspire to make the task before him even more laborious.
Apparently, the country, almost practically on pause button as a result of the naira redesign policy which subjected Nigerians to untold hardship and many other debilitating factors will actually make Tinubu’s task more tedious.
Collapsing under the weight of the proposed removal of subsidy, the first task before the brand-new President would be to take decisive action on the contentious issue many described as the elephant in the room.
Perhaps miffed by the Federal Government spending N2.91 trillion ($7 billion) on fuel subsidies between January and September 2022, the president-elect, during his campaigns, had vowed to remove fuel subsidies.
Apart from backing his plan to scrap subsidy paid on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) during the unveiling of his 82-page manifesto tagged “Renewed Hope 2023 –Action Plan for a better Nigeria”, he equally declared during an interactive session with captains of industry tagged: “business forward” in Lagos, that ‘the era when petrol subsidy was fashionable is gone.’
Though he led a protest against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Goodluck Janathan-led administration but repented, Tinubu had argued that subsidy payments were most beneficial to the rich and, therefore, ought to be stopped.
“The Petroleum Act is there for us to take a second look at to meet our obligations and no matter how much or long the protest, we will remove petrol subsidy. We will take tough decisions, but it will be done, and that is the truth. The era when fuel subsidy was fashionable is gone. So, it must be removed.
“I will ensure we end the wastage and re-channel the money to the people who truly need it. We can invest the money wisely, for instance in health. No matter how long you protest, we will remove the subsidy. We can do it. We are educated enough. How can we subsidise the fuel consumption of Cameroon, Niger, Benin Republic, and some others?” Tinubu queried.
Another task before him would be solving the intractable escalating insecurity and uniting Nigeria into a peaceful country. In his manifesto, he pledged to prioritise security and more importantly create an anti-terrorists battalion among other measures to tackle insecurity.
“We will mobilise the totality of our national security, military, and law enforcement assets to protect all Nigerians from danger and from the fear of danger. We will expand and improve upon the use of technology, enhance recruitment of personnel, and bolster existing agencies and systems to achieve this fundamental national security goal,” he rolled out practical measures to tackle insecurity in the policy document.
“I will provide a trained and disciplined anti-terrorist battalion, upgrade tactical communication and transportation for security agents, upgrade weapons systems to ensure security agents are capable of addressing security threats, and recruit people who possess the technical skills required for today’s military.
“I will also reduce dependence on imported foreign military equipment, exploit aerial technological superiority, improve salaries of security agents, rehabilitate economic systems affected by violent groups, secure national infrastructure, seek international collaboration and reposition the police.” Nigerians will await him to actualise this promise”, he added.
Another task, which will more or less be a moral burden, facing him will be to deliver his promise of achieving a constant power supply to Nigerians. Already, he told Nigerians that; “on electricity, I will embark on a renewed action-oriented focus and take immediate and urgent action on resolving existing challenges of power generation plants, gas purchasing, pricing, transmission, and distribution.
“My administration’s critical goal is to have 15,000 megawatts distributable to all categories of consumers nationwide to ensure 24/7 sustainable supply within the next four years,” he promised, and whether just a mere campaign promise or one to be kept, the high expectation that he will deliver a 24/7 power supply is another albatross hanging on his neck.
But beyond all these herculean tasks, the humongous domestic and international loan profile incurred by the Buhari administration is capable of crippling Tinubu’s administration too if not handled with deft economic solutions.
And assuring that he has the capacity to actualise the promises, Kano-born politician and APC Chieftain, Senator Kabiru Gaya, argued that having done it as governor of Lagos State, Tinubu will certainly replicate those achievements he recorded in Lagos in every part of the country as President of Nigeria.
“I strongly believe that he has the magic button to perform wonders. He did it in Lagos as governor and I have no iota of doubt that he will replicate it as President of Nigeria. He has been involved in installing successive governors that have maintained the development strides in Lagos State and I am sure he will take the country to the next level, especially in the area of development strides. I won’t advise him openly in the media because I know that he is competent enough to make Nigerians proud,” Gaya argued.