It’s a little over 30 days in the saddle as President of Nigeria, and Muhammadu Buhari, has so far, lived up to his reputation of being incorruptible, erudite and disciplined, but at the same time, has left millions of Nigerians confused on the composition of his cabinet, owing to his delay in making key appointments.

From May 29 up until today, June 30, Buhari’s administration has more or less been a smooth solo-sailing affair, with the President making moves and promises in the right direction, but failing to appoint ministers to implement the tasks.

It is notable that in 30 days, Buhari has managed to get the commitment of foreign nations in the war against Boko Haram, made progress in his bid to recover some of the monies looted from the Nation’s coffers, made substantial progress in the cleaning up of the oil sector rot- however, Nigerians want one thing more than any achievements recorded so far- the appointment of officials into his cabinet.

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Insurgency/War against Boko Haram

While delivering his inauguration speech on May 29, President Buhari announced that the headquarters of the Nigerian military will be moved to the front line of the war against Boko Haram in Maiduguri.

Asides meeting with the service chiefs more than twice, the President has also travelled to neigbhouring countries including Chad and Niger, to hold round table discussions on a collaboration to defeat Boko Haram.

However, the insurgents have grown bolder and more daring in their attacks, with back-to-back bombings in Borno and several parts of the insurgency-ravaged North East.

In the 30 days Buhari has been President, over 220 lives were lost in bombings on Nigerian soil while the sect has also seemingly expanded its operations with bombings in Niger and Chad.

In the midst of all this, Buhari has vowed to be merciless as he hunts the terrorists. He would also release the sum of $21 million for the operation of the Multinational Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) which is a coalition of armies of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, to fight and defeat Boko Haram.

 

Asset declaration drama

During his campaign period, President Buhari had released a document on his plan of action within the first 100 days, in which he promised to publicly declare his assets as well as that of his Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

Although Buhari has made his assets available to the Code of Conduct Bureau, he has failed to make it public and Nigerians, across board have overwhelmingly made repeated calls for the asset to be made public.

As the calls neared fever-pitch, the presidency disclosed that the assets of both leaders will be made public after the Code of Conduct Bureau authenticates claims in the declaration forms.

The Code of Conduct Bureau, would however, state that it cannot make public the details of assets declared by Buhari and Osinbajo, as a result of the limitations in federal laws covering such release.

The agency revealed that the terms and conditions under which the two leaders’ assets can be made public have not yet been prescribed by the National Assembly… but the National Assembly has been too busy enmeshed in a leadership crisis to come around to doing the work they were elected to do.

 

Crisis in the APC/ National Assembly

Perhaps the crisis in the National Assembly has affected the pace of President Buhari’s administration, time will tell.

The party that produced the President, the All Progressives Congress, has been immersed in a rift-within over the election of leaders of the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly.

In that front, it has been a month of betrayals, back-stabbing and scheming, as the party has become divided ever since June 9, when Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, disobeyed the party’s directive to contest and emerge Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.

Buhari, was said to have preferred that the lawmakers stuck to the party’s candidates for the positions- Femi Gbajabiamila and Senator Ahmed Lawan, and has reportedly failed to meet with Saraki, since his emergence.

As the dust on that disagreement in the Assembly was yet to settle, the party leadership sent a letter to the duo of Saraki and Dogara, with its list of candidates for the principal positions of both chambers.

But yet again, the National Assembly leaders defied the APC and went ahead to select candidates other than those put forward by their party. While Saraki managed in pulling off the coup, Dogara’s attempt in the House of Representatives resulted into a free-for-all show of shame at the chamber.

 

So far, so good. Tomorrow we shall deliver the final verdict on the first thirty days of the President’s tenure