(Who) is the Presidency?
Francis Abayomi
Last week was not without the much expected comic relief amidst the growing shenanigans of the political arena. Many thanks to Mr. Babachir David Lawal, the embattled Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF); now suspended from office in spite of the extraordinary confidence with which he sought to confuse the public to the contrary. In what look like pressure of political heat involving him in recent months following the grass-cutting scandal that has refused to thaw in spite of potpourris of scandalous events involving other political figures in the county, Mr. Babachir Lawal has twice confirmed he is indeed in the eye of the storm.
At the onset of allegations of corruption against him, the SGF dismissed charges coming from the senate by referring to the senators in derogatory terms: ‘arrant nonsense’,’ balderdash’ and the likes. I had hoped the man would never deemed it fit and proper, one day, to appear before the committee of the senate or in a senate plenary. With the likes of ‘comrades’ senators like Shehu Sani and Dino Melaye ever ready to dealt the legislative blows; so licentiously at the slightest opportunities, no one is sure how the embattled SGF would have responded under pressure, if the atmosphere becomes tempestuous. The heavily built SGF now makes it looks pretty like erstwhile Senate President and immediate past SGF; Pius Anyim was not in his own right a massively built personality in most recent past.
No one should be left in doubt that there is indeed a rancorous politicking at the seat of power in Aso Rock. But shouldn’t we be thanking God the President is right back on his beat at the State House after a long medical trip abroad before this scenario began to play out. Maybe SGF Lawal would have intoned: who exactly is the President or who the hell is the presidency? We can never tell what could have happened considering that he put up a show that was off-the-wall for whatever it was meant to convey. The depth of the political mess would have been unfathomable if the Vice President was still in acting capacity at the moment as SGF Babachir’s broad day drama would have attracted ethnic colourations and other deep-skin political sentiments.
But beyond the issue of complicity in corruption which must be diligently thrashed out, there is no doubt that Babachir was speaking from the heart; so eloquently about the unusual era; yet unfolding in the political annals of Nigeria. The other day, Governor El-Rufai was speaking about how his memo to the president was leaked by certain power-broker in Aso Rock after months of making same available at the Presidency. The confusion over Magu’s clearance by the Directorate of State Security (DSS) and the rising profiles of new untouchables around the president like the Custom Comptroller Hammed Ali should serve to alert us to the effect that Mr. Babachir might just be a disgruntled fellow rueing his disappointment in a system that now appears determined, by turn of events, to make him a scapegoat.
It is not strange Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the committee headed by the Vice-President charged with the rather unimpressive task of unravelling allegations of dubious contracts awarded under the auspices of the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) as well as the Ikoyigate cash haul whose owner(s) still remain strangely elusive. However, no one should foreclose the possibility of Mr. Babachir Lawal’s returning to office as the SGF contrary to blusters by self-appointed vuvuzelas of Bihari’s administration who are already deluding themselves that the embattled SGF was gone for good. If the Vice President’s Committee finds him blameless and he is asked to return to office eventually, we can be rest assured the stage will be set for another long-drawn battle between Mr. Babachir Lawal’s supporters and those who are quick to condemn on presumption of guilt; all in the desperation to see one of Mr. President’s closest associates punished on account of corruption whether as sacrificial lamb or a scapegoat.
If Babachir Lawal didn’t know who exactly the Presidency was, how possibly can we help him resolve the riddle? But before tomorrow comes regarding what the immediate future holds for SGF Babachir Lawal, it not unlikely that decision to suspend him was not properly conveyed which may have warranted his outburst as to who the presidency was. Maybe, he now knows much better how the presidency operates. Whether he returns to office or not, Babachir Lawal like other pawns of power before him would definitely have a story to tell in the future. And as it is with General Bamaiyi (Rtd) whose memoir has elicited overwhelming denials as expected, Babachir Lawal’s account of his experience in power would surely resonate with denials when eventually told sometimes and hopefully in the foreseeable future. Nigerians love the allure of political office, but much so hate taking responsibilities for actions or inactions in the corridors of power when history call them to account.
This articled first featured in HARDBEAT COLUMN of INDEPENDENT SUNDAY, 23rd April, 2017