Pendulum: Shagari, Dangote, Otedola And Too Many Matters: By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, this is one of those weeks when what you never
planned decides to jam what you already planned. I had planned to
write on my encounter with one of the youngest Presidential
aspirants, Fela Durotoye, who visited me at home recently with his
very creative wife, Tara. We spent some quality time together and
I’m sure we were all able to gain better insight about the Nigerian
political vista from that encounter.

I had cause to speak to Fela again after I got wind of some
situations affecting his campaign. I was able to give him some more
tips on how to forge ahead with his campaign and not get
disillusioned. We’ve come a long way together as Ife boys, though
much younger than me, but he’s always felt totally at home with me
on anything concerning him and his wife. He calls his wife my baby
and she’s playing a very pivotal role in this campaign. It is
through her that I’m able to track and measure Fela’s progress.

Anyway, as I sat down to write yesterday in the tranquil city of
Accra, Ghana, I received an incredible “breaking news” from a
friend. “Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola have been named as
prominent members of the Buhari Presidential campaign team”, he
shouted. WHAT, I exclaimed. This drama is getting too much and too
hot to handle, I mused. Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, released a
comprehensive list of its political campaign team and the news was
designed to send shivers down the spines of opposition parties. I
was not very surprised at their idea of muscle-flexing. This is the
season when every political party needs to show its influence and
advertise its powerful supporters as a way of intimidating its
opponents. My shock came from the mention of two of Nigeria’s
biggest brands and very popular entrepreneurs. There is nothing new
about businessmen going into politics. But I’m not sure if Aliko
Dangote and Femi Otedola are members of APC, and at what point they
joined the party. Indeed, I seriously doubt it.

What was more, I was worried about the possibility of these two
men with immense exposure to international commerce becoming
politically exposed and endangered men instantly. It has not been
possible, as at the time of writing this, to ascertain that they
were contacted prior to the announcement and if they actually
accepted to serve in whatever capacity as Buhari’s campaigners. My
personal opinion is that APC should have spared these men the agony
and anguish of being dragged into Nigeria’s political brouhaha with
attendant risks of a heavy backlash and collateral damages. If they
both are friends and financial supporters of President Buhari,
their privacy should have been protected and preserved, unless of
course they volunteered their services. What the APC did yesterday
was to play its biggest card so early and too soon. My opinion is
that it is absolutely unnecessary and that even if these men
accepted the offer under veiled threats or real coercion, it still
won’t wish away or wash off the concomitant embarrassment and
public odium. No government should treat its precious assets in
this manner. There is no doubt that businessmen can be mentioned as
donors and contributors to political campaigns. This happens all
over the world and indeed, these businessmen also sometimes write
in support of those parties. What shouldn’t happen, if they are not
members of a political party, is to coral or railroad them into
that party’s campaign team simply because that party is the ruling
party!

These are not normal times. The political situation in Nigeria
has been too tense. I was still ruminating over how to respond to
this Aliko/Otedola controversy when I received another bombshell,
that Nigeria’s President in the Second Republic, Alhaji Shehu Usman
Aliyu Shagari has just passed on to the great beyond. Once
confirmed, I quickly tweeted a condolence message to his family. I
was 19 years old when he became President on the platform of the
National Party of Nigeria. I was an undergraduate student at the
University of Ife in 1979 and was old enough to follow the chaotic
fallout from that election which turned out to be a major contest
between Shagari and the famous political sage and erudite lawyer,
Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

I will never forget the court case that ensued about the legal
interpretation of the mathematical calculation of what constitutes
the two thirds of all the States of the Federation at the time.
According to the results of that monumental election released by
the Federal Electoral Commission, popularly known then as FEDECO,
Shagari had garnered 5,688,857 votes nationally while Awolowo
scored 4,916,651 votes. The argument ensued that Shagari had not
met the technically complicated Constitutional requirement of
needing to have 25% of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all
the 19 States. Although he did not contest the total figures, but
rather relied on technicality, Awolowo vehemently rejected the
victory purportedly recorded by Shagari and prayed the courts to
jettison the decision of the Election Tribunal that had given
victory to Shagari.

The case which went all the way to the Supreme Court would go
down as one of the most tempestuous cases in the entire legal
history of Nigeria. The biggest mathematical problem arose when
Chief Awolowo insisted that a State was single entity which could
not be factionalised and as such, Shagari needed to have won the
mandatory 25% in 13 States and not in the fabricated twelve and
two-third States as rigorously argued by Shagari’s lawyer, Chief
Richard Osuolale Akinjide (SAN) who eventually won the case on
September 26, 1979. At the Supreme Court, the case was presided
over by Justice Atanda Fatai-Williams who was flanked by Justices
Irikefe, Bello, Idigbe, Obaseki, Uwais and Esho.

Days later, Shagari was promptly sworn in, but the controversy
raged on, almost endlessly and still does amongst academics to this
day. Shagari thus became Nigeria’s first Executive President. Four
years on, Shagari’s government was already enmeshed in reckless
profligacy and humongous resources were frittered away. The climax
came for that government in 1983 when Shagari and his magicians,
supported by the then Inspector General of Police, Sunday Adewusi,
won elections in even impossible places in what was termed “land
slide” and “moon slide.” All complaints were ignored, and it seemed
the politicians could really not be bothered. The consequences of
their folly in believing they were invincible manifested itself
about three months later when the military struck in a coup d’etat
on December 31, 1983, and Muhammadu Buhari was soon announced as
the new Head of State.

Buhari’s government wasted no time in ordering the arrests of
virtually all key actors in politics. His detractors claimed that
he was more benevolent to the Northern politicians, in the
punishments meted to these politicians and that those from the
southern parts of the country suffered the most. Whatever, the
truth and motives may be, Buhari and his able lieutenant, Tunde
Idiagbon, declared a massive war against corruption and
indiscipline. Shagari was kept under house arrest while his deputy,
Vice President Alex Ekwueme, who died earlier this year was hauled
into Kirikiri Maximum Prison without any cogent justification. A
very audacious attempt was made to cargo Umaru Dikko, one of the
most powerful Shagari Ministers back to Nigeria from London in a
coffin but Dikko was lucky as an alarm went out before he could be
air-lifted.

It is a strange coincidence that Shagari was toppled at the tail
end of December 1983 and he died yesterday towards the tail end of
December 2018. Interestingly, President Buhari flagged off his
re-election campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, yesterday. It would be
interesting to read what Buhari would have to say about a man he
once overthrew in a military coup.

There was other news that broke yesterday. A picture came from
the Presidential villa, in Abuja, that President Buhari has finally
endorsed his Party’s Governorship candidate. I watched as the
President and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba,
raised up the hands of oil baron, Dapo Abiodun, the candidate
officially recognised by APC in a show of recognition of this
noble, illustrious and industrious candidate. For the records, the
incumbent Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, had
strongly asserted that he would not recognise Dapo Abiodun as he
won through a kangaroo arrangement with highly placed party
apparatchik. Indeed, prior to this event, Amosun had tried hard to
sell his anointed candidate, Abiodun Akinlade, who is now running
on the platform of another party. As if this was not bizarre
enough, another photograph flew in from the direction of Akwa Ibom
where the President started his campaign and sat next to Governor
Amosun on the Presidential jet back to Abuja. It appeared like a
power show between the various camps of Amosun, Adams Oshiomhole,
Tinubu and Abiodun, the quartet that are embroiled in this war of
attrition between old friends. It is not known how substantial
Chief Osoba’s role has been in this dizzying saga.

But Ogun State seems to be setting new records in political
conundrum.

STOP PRESS

Just as I was about reaching the end of this week’s article,
another news flew in on Dangote. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser
issued what is obviously a disclaimer on the appearance of Aliko
Dangote on the Presidential Campaign Council. According to
Adesina:

“It has become imperative to further clarify the status of
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, named under the sub-head ADVISORY MEMBERS in
the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council
announced on Friday, December 28, 2018.

Africa’s richest man, not being a card-carrying member of APC,
cannot, and is not member of the PCC. He is also a member of the
Peace Committee, and thus cannot be in a partisan campaign
council.”

Adesina was silent on the fate of Aliko’s friend, Femi Otedola.
The APC government needs to do more homework before publishing
names anyhow. This type of expensive joke could have been avoided
if they were not in a hurry to name-drop those names that were
published yesterday. This was a massive own goal which could have
reverberations and repercussions not just on the political scene,
but in local and international business circles. There were reports
that many of those names included in the list heard about their
roles on social media. I think it is grossly unfair and totally
unfortunate to drag people’s hard-earned reputation in the mud in
order to score political points.

I do not envy some of the people mentioned. But at least, most
of them are politicians and it may be being on the campaign team
will help resurrect some dying and dead political careers! What
this team will do to the fortunes of the APC is another matter.

As always, time will tell!