I was shocked to read online that the National Leader of All Progressive Congress Party (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu blasted Mr. President, General Muhammadu Buhari over his inability or failure to influence National Assembly elected members on their choice of Senate President and Deputy Senate President for the upper chamber, and then Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the lower chamber. After going through the piece which was published in more than twelve (12) online sites, I asked myself one simple question; what could have made a man who has been proclaimed a strategic thinker, planner and executioner by majority of Nigerians to climb down from his Olympian height to throw stones at our President (General Buhari), the very man he deployed his massive media machine and machinery to convince the public to vote for?
Honestly, it still baffles me that Tinubu of all persons could throw stones at Buhari less than 12 days of Mr. President’s inauguration. Nigerian is a complex country with over 250 ethnic groups, divided into six geo-political zones, further subdivided into 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and furthermore, with over 15 strong political warlords and warriors looking for who to deal with. Yes, Bola Tinubu is one of the strong political warlords in this country but on the issue of the National Assembly leadership, he overstretched himself and got his fingers and toes badly burnt.
Let me at this point look at the variables that made Bola Tinubu to bang his head at the brick wall so soon.
APC is principally a composition of the following political parties: ACN, CPC, ANPP, the new PDP and a fraction of APGA. It is therefore expected that the party now becoming the ruling party should have all the components fully represented in all strategic positions in the executive and legislative arms of government. Meanwhile, the National Leader of APC is Mr. Bola Tinubu from the ACN Component. Also the National Chairman of APC is Mr. John Oyegun, also from the ACN component. The President of Nigeria is Mr. Buhari who is from the CPC component while the Vice President, Mr. Osinbajo is from the ACN component. The Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki is from the new PDP component while the Deputy Senate President, Mr. Ike Ekweremadu is not in any way a member of APC. He came from the opposition party, the PDP. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara came from the new PDP component while the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Suleiman Lasun Yusuff came from the ACN component.
From the above analysis, it is very clear that the 8 major positions have been shared out in the following ratios.
- ACN got 4 positions out of 8
- New PDP got 2 positions out of 8
- CPC got 1 position out of 8
- ANPP got 0 position out of 8
- APGA got 0 position out of 8
A simple look at the shared positions above proves that the ACN component has 50% of the positions. The new PDP component got 25% of the positions while CPC component got 121/2% of the position. APGA and ANPP are yet to have their presence felt in the scheme of things. It is therefore expected that the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) would come from the ANPP component while the Chief of Staff to the President would come from the APGA component.
In all these, Mr. Bola Tinubu is not satisfied. He wants the position of the speaker of the House of Representatives to come from his ACN Component. He wants to dictate who will become the Senate President. He wants to appropriate or corner all the strategic positions thereby leaving Mr. President hollow and unprotected. Perhaps, he is already plotting to impeach the President so that his “Commissioner boy” will jump into the Presidential seat. Otherwise, why should Bola Tinubu feel uncomfortable with the composition of the National Assembly Leadership? He does not want President Buhari to be his own man. He wants to be the only source from which political power flows. He wants anytime he coughs, Mr. President, National Assembly members and indeed all Nigerians catches cold, just as he is presently doing in Lagos State. And I ask; is this how to be a leader acceptable to all Nigerians? I think Mr. Tinubu has overreached himself and that is why the elected National Assembly members decided to teach him simple “political mathematics”. It should be noted that the CPC component of APC has only one position so far, though it is the main position, but Mr. President is not complaining. If I am in the position to advice President Buhari, I will tell him to ensure that CPC, ANPP and APGA components get more juicy positions. Bola Tinubu can jump into the Atlantic Ocean if he likes. Now, let us look at the geopolitical zones and see how they fared in the 8 shared positions so far, bearing in mind that the two amiable gentlemen that control President Buhari’s media machine and machinery are from the South West and North West respectively. I am talking of Uncle Femi Adesina and Uncle Garba Shehu.
- President Buhari is from North West
- Vice President Osinbajo is from South West
- Senate President is from North Central
- Deputy Senate President is from South East
- Speaker House of Representatives is from North East
- Deputy Speaker is from South West
- National Chairman of the APC is from South South
- National Leader of APC is from South West
Again, a simple look at the shared positions along the geo-political lines will prove that the South West zone of the country has the lion’s share. They have already cornered 3 out of the 8 powerful positions, yet Mr. Bola Tinubu is not satisfied and he has the temerity (and audacity) to throw stones at President Buhari. The other zones have one position each.
Having opened the minds of the reading public, it is very safe for me to conclude that the National Leader of APC, Mr. Bola Tinubu is a very greedy and selfish man. He is an ethnic fundamentalist. He thinks he owns APC. He thinks he owns Nigeria. He thinks he is the only strategic thinker, planner and executioner in Nigeria. This country is too big for him. It is unfortunate that Bola Tinubu has reduced himself to a mere street boy fighter. He has ridiculed himself before the Nigerian public. Perhaps, he is suffering from “RIDICULEOPATHY” (Apologies to President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida).
Therefore, before Tinubu throws another stone at our President (our collective President), His Excellency, General Muhammadu Okechukwu Buhari, he should be reminded that the outcome of the elections of the National Assembly Leadership was not the making of the President but pure democracy at work. He should be told that Nigeria has come of age. He should be told that the legislature is the fulcrum through which democracy revolves. He should be told that once the legislative arm of government is weak, as a result of external influence, then our hard earned democracy may crumble.
Tinubu! Tinubu!! Tinubu!!! How many times have I called you?
I rest my pen.
________________________________________
Signed
Citizen Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha
Former Senior Special Assistant on Media
Immediate Past Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties
Imo State House of Assembly
07032934037
13th June, 2015.
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