Deconstructing power play at the presidency

The refusal of the Senate to confirm Ibrahim Magu for the second time as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has, expectedly, sent tongues wagging and threw up all kinds of theories including the one alluded to by Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central in an interview with Vanguard newspaper recently.

“Magu is a victim of power play within the Villa”, Senator Sani revealed in the interview, and he goes on to advise the President to be tough on those undermining his good intentions at the Villa. But I disagree with Senator Sani when he said that the Senate should not be blamed for their refusal to confirm Magu as EFCC chairman because, as he puts it, “they were only doing their job.” This is not true.

From every indication, it appears some people – maybe we should call them vested interests who control the locus of power – do not want Magu to be confirmed as the EFCC boss. Senator Sani suggested that when a team is not united, the players undermine each other or sabotage the efforts of their coach – where the coach is the target and cause of the confusion in the first place – as we have seen with some football clubs in Europe, and the outcome is predictably disastrous. Even the Holy Book records that wherever there is strife, there can be no progress.

This may explain why several media reports alleged that some principal officers at the Presidency, with the tacit support of some congressmen, are waging war of attrition against Magu’s confirmation at the Senate. So what has Magu done wrong, or, to put it in a more appropriate context, who is afraid of Magu?

If there’s one job I do not envy, it is Magu’s job as the top cop at EFCC. In this environment where the sociological and cultural dimensions of our people based on religion and ethnicity affect our behaviour and general orientation, corruption has a way of fighting back, even at the risk of our lives. We do not agree that anyone related to us – especially those who served in government – is a thief even when there is circumstantial evidence. But why shouldn’t we call a thief by his or her real name, regardless of where the person comes from?

Once you can rise to the position of a ‘big man’ and prominence in Nigeria, you can also become a law onto yourself; it means you can be above the law and may never be brought to justice if you break the laws of the land since ‘big men’ in Nigeria always have the ‘right connections’. Magu’s rejection for the second time by the Senate is a rejection of a man widely believed is the right man for the job going by his record so far.

It is also a rejection of the faith and confidence that the President has reposed in Magu to rein in the ‘bad guys’ who are determined to fight back at all cost and by any means. The President ought to understand by now that the Senators have a different agenda from his own, and this second rejection speaks volumes. The rejection is, indeed, doing a lot of damage to the image of Presidency because it appears the henchmen in the Villa are not on the same page on Magu’s appointment as Senator Sani observed.

The locus of power in this instance revolves between the Villa and the National Assembly and other contending forces loyal to both sides. Much as both sides try to achieve a balance, it is usually a fruitless exercise because the key driver in our circumstance and experience has been private and selfish interests instead of national interest.

The scales fall normally off when you have a President who is determined to fight for the national interest even if we do not agree with his style and method. Several commentators such as Joe Igbokwe, a politician and APC member in Lagos, and Femi Falana, a legal luminary, have weighed in on the matter without mincing words. Whereas Igbokwe believes the President’s anti-corruption war is now becoming a joke and recommended that the DG of the Department of State Service (DSS) should be fired, Falana provided three options for the government which includes presenting Magu’s name to the Senate for the third time.

The Senate has on two separate occasions relied on the report by the DSS to disqualify Magu. Who is the DSS working for? The rejection of Magu is a clear affront to the President and his good intentions, and if you read between the lines of Senator Sani’s message, you might be tempted not blame the Senate after all, even if you do not agree with their decision to reject Magu for the second time because it is not a patriotic decision.

The Senate, and indeed the National Assembly as a whole, it must be mentioned, should ideally be leading the fight against bribery and corruption but what has happened with the Magu episode is that our law makers see Magu as a present and everyday threat to their private interests who must be shown the door.

Since Magu has been rejected twice the way it has happened because of a suspicious report by an agency of government, it means every good thing coming out of Nigeria will be rejected by the Senate.  This is a damaging metaphor of collusion and a fight against a great, glorious and prosperous Nigeria. Magu’s rejection may not mean anything to the Senators but it is an unfortunate development in a country in need of bright and hardworking talents and my simple advice will be for our lawmakers to work very hard to improve their current brand image and public perception.

The rejection of Magu clearly represents the fight between ‘right and wrong’ in a country where most people are looking up to the government for hope and survival. The decision by the Senators represents a dashing of hopes for the fight against corruption in high places. In spite of the poor characterization of Magu, I’m convinced he is determined to deliver on his mandate.

Power play is not a new thing as every group seeks to advance their own interests. However, if these power mongers, who arrogate to themselves the powers that they do have, work against the interest of the government and general well-being of Nigerians, the President ought to act decisively. “Being responsible sometimes means pissing off people,’’ admonished General Colin Powel (Rtd), former Chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

President Buhari should worry more about the ‘enemies within’ and understand that he would have to offend some of his core loyalists by taking hard decisions against them because they are actively working against his good intentions for our country. It was the First Lady who narrated the other day how some of the President’s principal officers have turned themselves into a cabal at the Presidency and calling the shots even when they did not contribute in any way to the success of APC at the presidential elections. This was a major revelation now being corroborated by Senator Sani who is in a position to know.

As if to amplify the matter further, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State in his damning memo to the President, noted that the government was losing its momentum and goodwill of Nigerians which may become counter-productive in due course if the drift is not arrested. This memo underscores the need for the President to reflect deeply on the people who are actually supporting his vision to succeed and those who are sabotaging his efforts, and separate the wheat from the chaff as his government approaches its mid-term. The changes are imminent and urgent, and President Buhari should act now!

Braimah is the chairman/CEO of Neo Media & Marketing, Ikeja, Lagos.