Buhari’s Legacy and Tinubu’s Campaign

 With the pledge by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu, to build on the legacy of the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, if elected in 2023, many Nigerians are waiting to see the effect of his campaign, given their reservations about the current administration, writes Adedayo Akinwale

With the All Progressives Congress (APC) ready to go full blast with its campaigns, President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to lead the charge and ensure that the presidential candidate of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu is delivered in 2023. Buhari gave the assurance when he inaugurated the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and unveiled the action plan of its presidential candidate in Abuja.

He said: “It is on this note that I want to rally all our party members behind our candidate, Asiwaju Tinubu, in our determination to continue to lead this country so that we can consolidate on our achievements and do more.”

The president was of the opinion that it would be disastrous to allow a situation that would lead to the reversal of what he described as the progress the country has made. 

Buhari added: “Let me add that I joyfully accept the position of the chairman of the campaign council we are unveiling today. Our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is too well known for his capacity and can-do spirit. He stands tall in his track records as a democrat, a champion of the rule of law, a man at home in every part of our country, and a truly visionary leader. I, therefore, want to assure all party members and supporters of our government that I will be at the forefront of this campaign. 

“This election is even more important than the election of 2015 that brought us into power. The costs of losing the gains our country has made are much more than the need to stop the haemorrhage that led to our coming together nearly nine years ago,” Buhari added.

Prior to the long-awaited inauguration, the spokesperson of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan had mocked Tinubu, saying that his party had nothing to show as its achievements, hence the failure to kick-start their campaign.

He said the acceptance of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, as seen at the Kaduna rally had thrown his opponents into panic mode. He further pointed out that the opponents who had resorted to sending armed thugs to disrupt PDP’s campaigns in Kaduna, and the closure of media organisations in Zamfara State were displaying their fears over the acceptance of Atiku and his laid-out plans for Nigerians ahead of 2023 elections.

“It is on record that Atiku remains the only candidate who has taken his message of hope to five out of six geo-political zones and, who has received huge turn-out at every port of call so far. It is important for Nigerians to note that the APC and its presidential candidate, Tinubu, have nothing to offer other than their records of failures for the past seven years,” he posited.

However, as the ruling party rolls out its campaigns in full force, the question on the lips of many is whether Tinubu will campaign on the acclaimed achievements of Buhari or his achievements while he was the governor of Lagos State.

There had been attempts by the federal government’s critics to blame Tinubu for some of the failings of Buhari’s administration, especially in the areas of security and economy. They argued that if the APC presidential candidate had not foisted Buhari on Nigerians, he would not have won the elections that brought untold hardship to the people.

Recently, a former National Chairman of APC and the Deputy Director General of PCC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole had argued that Tinubu cannot be held responsible for the performance of the administration of Buhari since he never participated in governance at any level in the current federal administration. He stressed that it would be unfair for anyone to hold Tinubu responsible for the performance, policies, and policy implementation of the current government.

Also, the Spokesperson of the PCC, Festus Keyamo, recently said the party had every right to campaign based on the records of its presidential candidate in Lagos State. 

According to him, “the economy and the government Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been reputed to be more in control of and be the leader of is that of Lagos State which is also an APC government. So we have every right to campaign with the records of Lagos State.”

During the 2015 general election, Buhari promised to fight corruption, defeat terrorism and fix the economy. But seven and a half years down the line, observers believe that things have become worse.

Before 2015, Boko Haram insurgents held the North-east part of the country hostage. So, many Nigerians believed that if a ‘no-nonsense’ Buhari assumed the leadership of the country, insecurity would be a thing of the past. But at the moment, not only have terrorists continued to wreak havoc in North-east, North-central and South-west, bandits also kidnap for ransom, while herdsmen have ensured that farmers do not access to their farms, with unknown gunmen also ravaging the South-east.

The Boko Haram insurgents that were restricted to the North-east under former President Goodluck Jonathan have turned into a monster under Buhari. The terrorist attack in Owo Catholic Church in Ondo State, killing over 40 people; the Kaduna-Abuja train attack; the attack on the Kuje Medium Security Correctional Centre, Abuja leading to the freeing of 66 Boko Haram Commanders and the attack on Guards Brigade troops both at Dutse and Zuma Rock in Abuja, which led to the death of some soldiers and officers, were some of the frightening incidents. Even President Buhari’s convoy was attacked, an indication that nowhere is safe in the country.

It was against this background that the acclaimed Global and International Terrorism Research/Analysis group which specialises in collating data on terrorist activities worldwide recently disclosed that Nigeria was the second most attacked and terrorised country in the world after Iraq, while Syria is the third.

In addition, corruption remains intractable. Buhari’s anti-corruption fight rests on a tripod: Implementation of Treasury Single Account, Biometric Verification Number (BVN) and ‘Whistle Blowing’ policy, which have received commendations.

 Sadly, the politicisation of the anti-corruption fight has cast doubt on the fight. In addition, the alleged double standards in Buhari’s treatment of those loyal to him are some examples; as well as party politics of shielding the prosecution of people loyal to those in power. While Oshiomhole was APC chairman, he told defectors from opposition parties to join the governing party and have their ‘sins’ forgiven.

It was no surprise that by the end of 2019 when Buhari was elected for a second term, Nigeria had dropped to 146 and by 2020 ranked 149 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

Moreso, when Buhari took over from Jonathan in 2015, the country’s domestic debt stood at N8.39 trillion. However, with Buhari’s administration’s appetite for borrowing, the country’s debt rose to N41.6 trillion in Q1 2022. 

Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 20.52 per cent in August, the highest since September 2005. The inflation figure rose from 19.64 per cent recorded in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The country’s inflation rate was 9.6 per cent in 2015. The exchange rate in 2015 was N224 to a Dollar, while Naira now exchanges for N742 in the parallel market to a dollar.

Interestingly, the Buhari-led administration allowed the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to drag on for eight months, while the health sector is virtually on its knees as more than 13,000 health workers including doctors have left for greener pastures in the past two years. 

Recently, Nigeria was ranked 103 out of 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index. The Global Hunger Index was jointly published by the German-based Welthungerhilfe and Dublin-based Concern Worldwide.

The report, which ranks countries by “severity”, gave Nigeria a score of 27.3,  a hunger level falling under the “serious” category. The index has five levels of hunger under which each country falls – low, moderate, serious, alarming, and extremely alarming. This is the second consecutive year in which Nigeria’s ranking on the scale remains the same. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, ranked 103 out of 116 countries in 2021 and 98 among 107 countries in 2020.

Though some Nigerians have commended the Buhari’s administration for the giant strides in the area of infrastructures such as the Loko-Oweto bridge, Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja-Kano Highway, Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway and the 43km Obajana-Kabba road, many other federal roads across the country are still in deplorable conditions.

This is why observers believe that the failure of the Buhari administration is so monumental that it overshadowed its achievements.

So when Tinubu recently pledged to build on President Buhari’s legacy if elected as president in 2023, many Nigerians were wondering what legacy he planned to. build on.

But sensing the discontentment of Buhari’s performance amongst Nigerians, Tinubu while commissioning an edifice of the APC Presidential/State Campaign recently said they should  not have any regret about the President.

“Don’t have any regret at all. Don’t allow those who don’t know the way to victory, and don’t understand the success of a nation to lie to you about Buhari or anybody. Don’t let them. Throw it back at them. Take your broom firmly and sweep Nigeria clean. This party will receive victory, this country will experience progress, and this office will be filled with joy come February 2023,” he said.

As the ruling party embarks on campaigns ahead of the 2023 elections, it remains to be seen if Tinubu will take a gamble by campaigning on the much-touted Buhari’s achievements or if he would stick to his achievements when he was the governor of Lagos State.