Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai has lamented the political misfortune of Prof Yemi Osinbajo, saying the crisis in the Presidency owes a lot to the actions he took as acting President.
But while he sympathizes with Osinbajo, he was of the view that the Yoruba, where the vice president comes from, can do nothing democratically that would affect President Buhari, pointing out that the president does not need their votes any more, and they cannot also garner ‘the two third majority of votes’ required to impeach him.
He also decried the crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) across a number of states in the country while insisting that the ruling party has not learnt any lesson from it previous misfortune in places like Zamfara State. Excerpts:
Our starting point is the intrigue in the Presidency between the president and his deputy. How do you see the script?
I have just been talking about this problem a while ago. If you look at the scenario and the play ups before now, you will certainly not be surprised at what is happening between President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo. If you remember before President Buhari travelled abroad for medical attention, he had submitted the name of the former Chief Justice on acting capacity and he was there when that time elapsed and he had to reappoint him in the same acting capacity. By law that can only be done twice and it cannot be done thrice and by the time the second appointment in acing capacity lapsed, President Buhari was still abroad and, therefore, it became imperative for acting President Osinbajo to act. Being a lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he knows that if having been appointed twice, the acting Chief Justice cannot be nominated again. His name must be submitted to the National Assembly. There is no other way except if Buhari had nominated the name of another person, which was not the case. I am just thinking on my own. I do not think that Buhari took kindly the act of that nomination because if he would nominate the acting Chief Justice twice, it means that he probably had no intention of nominating him for confirmation and in any case we saw how it all ended. Circumstances made Osinbajo to act and Buhari was not happy about that.
Could this be the history of their problem sir?
No, I am coming to that…if you remember the case of Lawal Daura. If you remember, Daura authorized his men to block the access to the National Assembly and Osinbajo was still the acting president and as a lawyer, he has no alternative, but to take action against Daura because there is no provision in the Constitution that allowed Lawal Daura to prevent the National Assembly from discharging its responsibility. There is no such provision for anybody, not even the president has the powers to prevent the National Assembly from discharging its functions. So, the acting president as at that time has no alternative, but to act against the infraction committed by DSS under the directive of Lawal Daura. He removed Lawal Daura, detained him and withdrew the DSS operatives and allowed the National Assembly to continue to operate uninterrupted. In my own opinion, Buhari was not happy with these situations. Now, if you look at the situation till date, President Buhari has never, since then, given Osibanjo opportunity to act as the President of Nigeria. This two situations should convince everybody, even the Doubting Thomases that there is sometime brewing in the mind of President Buhari, between him and Osinbajo. I have no evidence, but these are my deductions.
Let us look at the issue of removing him from some of his positions and the recent case of the sacking of his staff. How does that play into this?
Let me say that the report about the withdrawal of his staff was reported and there was also a denial – I think from the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government. In any case whatever it is, if you put that together with what I have just said about the case of Daura and Walter Onnoghen, you will say that all is not well with this Presidency. Yes, they would deny the statement, but there is no smoke without fire.
How does this affect the Yoruba people who see themselves as critical stakeholders in the emergence of the Buhari administration?
Well, I have been saying since the period of Obasanjo that in my opinion a presidency, which is occupied by a retired military General is not a full fledged democracy. I am, therefore, not surprised at the zig-zag way that our Presidency is going because I already have this feeling that there is no way a military General would operate democracy according to the rule of the game.
What I was actually saying is that the Yoruba feel that what is happening to Osinbajo is a direct attack on them. Are they reading the script well enough?
No, I don’t think so. But let me say this. There is no doubt that Yoruba votes made it possible for Buhari to emerge as President of Nigeria twice. But it depends on the person of the president to appreciate this or not to appreciate it. If he is somebody who appreciates good gesture, it would have been a different matter. But I don’t think that is the situation. Yes, the Yoruba made it possible for Buhari to be the president for the first time and the second term. But Buhari does not need the Yoruba and their votes any more. He is already the president. They are not in the control of the National Assembly and, therefore, they cannot impeach him. I don’t think he needs them and so it is up to them to decide what to do in the face of what is before them. Whether they satisfied that they have been compensated. No matter what they feel about what is happening honestly they could do little to alter their fate. Buhari doesn’t need them any more. He is already the president. You cannot remove him unless by impeachment and you do not have a two-third majority required to undertake such a task in the National Assembly and so even by way of impeachment, they cannot do anything to Buhari.
What then is your advice to the Yoruba in the face of all this?
Next time, this should serve as a lesson for them. In fact, it should serve as a lesson to Nigerians. The character of the people you are going to support should be a matter for thorough consideration before yourself and you people to the person.
Bola Tinubu has been rather silent in the unveiling drama. What do you make of his silence?
Well, he is still looking for the support of Buhari supporters in the North. The story is that Tinubu is thinking of replacing Buhari at the end of his tenure and I will not be surprised that this is the case. If that is the case, then Tinubu would not dismiss the goodwill of Buhari’s supporters in the North.
And could it be that he has a hand in the unfortunate fate of Osinbajo, given that both are rumoured to be interested in the presidency come 2023?
I have not heard that Bola Tinubu is opposed to the prospect of Osinbajo emerging as the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the future.
Some people have said that there is no zoning in APC Constitution and that the North can still go for the presidency in the next elections. What is your take?
Those who are saying this are people who are prepared to dam the consequences. We cannot in the present situation think of APC nominating a northerner as a candidate after the two terms of Buhari Presidency. Any body who is a product of democracy must think twice before making this statement because we don’t have the required number to produce a president of this country. We certainly need some support from the South and the only possible area that we can look up for meaningful support is the Southwest.