Why Buhari may stand alone in 2019

by Tosin Adesina

The journey for 2019 presidential election started the moment APC won the  2015 presidential election and every action embarked on by the party and its individuals are all pointing towards 2019 and nothing more.

The earliest sign was the election of principal officers of the National Assembly.

The party had Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as its candidate for the position of Senate President and Speaker respectively, but the election was won by other “APC” members Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara with both emerging via the block votes of the PDP members in both houses.

As expected, the party was seen to fight back and Saraki was kept busy at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, while Dogara’s punishment was mild as he was made to announce his contender Femi Gbajabiamila as Leader of the house. Those who believe they own the APC, and are keen promoters of President Buhari are yet to see Saraki as one of them, but rather they see him as a PDP man dressed in APC robes.

The President himself played his own penalty to throw-in when he declared he could work with anybody that emerged as the leader of the National Assembly, but today he is working with nobody.

Before he embarked on his medical leave he had it rough with the legislature and the situation seems to have gotten tougher for the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo. The aftermath of the 2017 Budget has further shown how strained their relationship is.

The inability of the President to stay at home to monitor governance for himself and the sliding of our economy into recession among other things has made his “Frenemies”, the likes of Atiku Abubakar and others to sing a new chorus of restructuring which is now reverberating across the country including the North.

The way his health has been shrouded in secrecy has not helped matters either, as many Nigerians are pessimistic on matters relating to his health. Also, the way the presidency has reacted to matters of Buhari’s health, terming it as a private matter is wrong as he is a public officer spending tax payers money on his medicals.

The poor performance of his appointees is also a minus to the President as they have been unconvincing. The euphoria on the Abuja airport was short lived as it has next to no effect on the common man as poor people don’t fly, only rich people do.

While his inability to make important appointments ranging from Ambassadorial to governing Boards of federal agencies among others has degraded his image which wasn’t strong enough either.

The last nail on the coffin is the economy which has slided into recession with the price of commodities going up uncontrollably with some experiencing over 100% increment which has further increase the standard of living in Nigeria.

2019 is here already and all indices show that Buhari might stand alone as those standing for him like Atiku Abubakar have not hidden their interest to dissuade the man from office.

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