Mu’azu’s Burden

Fri, Jan 24, 2014
By publisher
10 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Featured, Politics

With his appointment as the new national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, former Governor Adamu Mu’azu of Bauchi State, has a herculean task of reconciling a fractured party while he also contends with moral burden of allegations of corruption against him

By Olu Ojewale  |  Feb. 3, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT

HIS detractors will like everyone who cares to know that he is an indicted politician that does not suppose to hold public office for 10 years. He also has a case before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an alleged misappropriation of about N19.8 billion of public fund. That notwithstanding, former Governor Adamu Mu’azu of Bauchi State, is the new national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He was formally sworn into office on Monday, January 20, to take over the office vacated by Bamanga Tukur, who had a turbulent 18 months as leader of the PDP. Tukur bowed when he could no longer stand the heat on Wednesday, January 15.

All the issues that forced Tukur out are still very much alive and roaring, but supporters of Mu’azu, an obvious popular choice, believe that he is the right man for the job. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of Mu’azu, President Goodluck Jonathan said all other aspirants for the position of the party national chairman were eminently qualified but he was the popular choice because of his great attributes. “We selected you because most of those who made comments about you, which of course, a lot of things have been said, were that you have some unique attributes as a person. You have so many friends from the North to the South, from the West to the East. You are somebody that could be clearly described as not tied to tribal sentiments,” Jonathan said.

Jonathan
Jonathan

Tukur similarly paid a tribute to his successor in a congratulatory letter dated Tuesday, January 21. He said Mu’azu’s emergence as the national leader was a clear manifestation of his unique leadership qualities, visionary and purposeful disposition as well as his immeasurable contributions to the growth of the PDP. “This new appointment is a call to serve your fatherland, which bestows great responsibility on your shoulders. I am confident that you will not only discharge your duties effectively, but will leave an indelible mark in the area of rebuilding the party in line with the transformation agenda of Mr. President. It is my sincere prayer that the Almighty Allah will endow you with wisdom to bring these positive and result-oriented qualities to bear as you assume the leadership of our great party,” Tukur said.

In a similar message, Mohammed Abba Aji, former presidential adviser on National Assembly, expressed confidence in the ability of the new party leader to unite the dissenting groups within the party. Aji, who described Mu’azu as a team player and insightful personality, stressed that the new party chairman was a natural choice for the job. He said that with Mu’azu in charge, the PDP would witness a phenomenal turnaround from its dwindling fortunes, saying that a good number of party chieftains who defected to the opposition would be glad to come back.

In any case, Mu’azu’s competence and ability will be determined by the way he handles some the issues that have been confronting the party. Anyway, the new party leader is not new to the politics of the PDP on which platform he became governor of Bauchi State in 1999. Hence, he is expected to restore the fortune of the party which seems to be dwindling in the past few months because of intra-party squabble. According to some insiders in the party, it would be a big boost for him if he could reconcile former President Olusegun Obasanjo with the party leadership. A source said: “if there is anyone who can resolve the misunderstanding between Obasanjo and President Jonathan, it is Mu’azu.” The new party leader is similarly expected to ensure that former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, who happens to be his in-law remains in the party and also negotiate with the aggrieved governors, the incumbent governors, and other stakeholders, especially more than 170 defecting federal legislators from the party. “One unique thing about him is his reconciliatory spirit. Despite the fact that he was persecuted, he harbours no grudge against Governor Isa Yuguda (Bauchi State). We need this kind of spirit now to survive as a party,” one of the party leaders was quoted as saying. It is expected that Mua’zu’s pedigree as a former governor would enable him to relate with both the former and current PDP governors and gain their confidence on party matters.

Tukur
Tukur

But while the euphoria of his appointment lasts, the party hierarchy must also have to come to terms Mu’azu’s moral baggage which has not been settled. There has been some allegations of corruption still hanging on his neck. For instance, after his tenure as governor of Bauchi State in 2007, Governor Isa Yuguda, his successor, raised a seven-man panel of inquiry to probe his administration. The panel headed by Justice Bitrus Sanga claimed that more than N20.4 billion was misappropriated by Mu’azu’s his eight-year administration. The panel recommended that Mu’azu should not hold public office for 10 years and that the misappropriated funds should be recovered from individuals and groups found to have been responsible. There is no record that Mu’azu had either refunded any money or taken to court. “The probe of Mua’zu by Yuguda was politically motivated; it was a consequence of Yuguda’s botched plans to secure the governorship ticket of the PDP in Bauchi State in 2007,” a source said. Indeed, Mua’zu had backed Muhammad Umar, a former secretary to the state government, to succeed him in office. This forced Yuguda to defect to the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and having won the governorship race, used his position to deal with his predecessor. “The probe commission was a product of vendetta. This is why nothing has come out of it,” the supporter said.

But that is not the only baggage that Mu’azu needs to discharge. On June 24, 2008 he was summoned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over an alleged mismanagement of public funds to the tune of N19.8 billion.  The letter asked him to report at the EFCC headquarters on or before July 3, 2008, but instead, he relocated abroad on self-exile. He did not return back to the country until September 2010. Although he has never been charged to court for the alleged crime, there are fears that Mua’zu may run into storm early in the day because of the moral burden just like some of his predecessors.

But his supporters don’t seem to be thinking along that line. President Jonathan noted his speech that most PDP governors did not want the national chairman to come from their states, but he said in the case of Mu’azu, he had the total support of Governor Yuguda. The new PDP boss similarly enjoys support across the party strata. But for Mu’azu to succeed, analysts says he would have to avoid the charges levelled against his predecessors. They particularly accused Tukur of running the party like a personal estate; breach of the party constitution by not holding National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting; lack of democratic culture; arbitrary suspension of governors and members; exclusion of elected party officers by the National Working Committee, NWC, from decision-making process and wasting of party resources on personal events, functions, and chartering of aircraft, among others.

Obasanjo
Obasanjo

According to some party members, the exit of Tukur was actually hastened because of the way he unilaterally suspended some governors and party members in violation of the PDP constitution. “At least due process was not followed in exercising disciplinary action against some of our leaders. It means the NWC can wake up one day to suspend either the president or vice-President,” a party source said, adding that was the reason the NWC revolted against Tukur sometime last year and prior to his throwing in the towel January 15.

In any case, the new national chairman has promised that he would run an inclusive administration with the aim of restoring the lost glory of the party. To succeed in his mission, he said: “I, therefore, wish to invite all our party men and women as well as all well meaning Nigerians to make their inputs and contributions to my reform programmes. I do not claim to have the monopoly of wisdom to turn the fortunes of the PDP around, but I believe that if we all resolve here and now, to turn around the dwindling fortunes of the PDP, the party will regain its lost glory in record time and remain the toast of the Nigerian people, once again. In this connection, in the coming weeks and months, we will engage in sweeping reforms in the administration of the party to bring it in tandem with global best practices… The beginning of credible, free and fair elections starts with credible, free and fair party primaries. Free and fair primaries are the foundation of free and fair elections. The PDP, as the leading party, must therefore, lead the way for other parties to follow. We cannot and will not condone questionable primary elections… The supremacy of the party will guarantee internal party discipline, credibility and electoral victories. We therefore cannot compromise on these.”

Mu’azu has also held out an olive branch to the five governors and legislators who defected from the party to come back to the fold with promise that their grievances would be addressed. He has set up a committee to help in the reconciliation effort.

As expected Mu’azu has been receiving a lot of advice both solicited and unsolicited, but for him to avoid the banana peels that dealt with his predecessor, he would probably get learn from what his predecessor said about his time in the saddle. “A mortal who would lead PDP must be fearless, consistent and focused. Personal ambition, crave for sudden wealth and unimaginable level of treachery usually got the full attention of such stakeholders than anything else. I did my best to bring PDP to good standard and international best practices in politics. I came in with the mind-set to reform the party by promoting the principle of election instead of selection and the idea of consensus instead of imposition. Alas, I was proved wrong by those who believed that the old order in PDP must be retained, not for any good thing, but for their selfish interests,” Tukur said. Apart from the moral burden, how well Mu’azu is able to learn from the mistakes of the past leaders will also determine how far he can go.

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