QUESTION: Three heavy shots in four days… should Buhari still run?

Blast after blast, the recent days have been “tough” as critics have consecutively come hard on President Muhammadu Buhari.

Within a time span of seven days, supposed allies of Buhari, who were instrumental to his emergence as the winner of the 2015 presidential election, have turned their backs on him.

Giving reasons ranging from nepotism, poor governance, and blame game, insecurity, unemployment, the president has been on a hot seat.

For a government which promised change and one which Nigerians had high hopes in, the administration is said to have failed in fulfilling its promises, more than two years into its term.

SHOT 1: AISHA’S VIDEO RETWEET

Just after the dust raised by Tunde Bakare, general overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, and Buhari’s running mate in 2011 was settling, Aisha, wife of the president, made history by being the first wife of a sitting Nigerian president to ridicule her husband publicly.

The woman took to Twitter to share video clips of senators criticising her husband’s administration.

In the video clips, Isah Misau, senator representing Bauchi-central and Ben Murray-Bruce, Bayelsa-east senator, criticised Buhrai’s handling of government affairs.

“It’s as if he is not in charge. It is as if some people are in charge of this country,” Misau had said.

“Even the DG NIA we are talking about the cabal are the ones who appointed him there. The leadership should go and have one on one with the president.”

Bruce on his part said,”since the time the president assumed office, he has not taken any decision to move this country.”

He said it seemed to him that Nigeria was becoming a lawless country.

That was not the first time that Aisha would condemn her husband in public. Arguments have risen as to if Aisha’s action is an act of bravery or a sign of disrespect for her husband.

SHOT 2: NA’ABBA’S TONGUE-LASH

Two days later, Gali Na’Abba, ex-speaker of the house of representatives, came with his quota of criticism.

In an interview on The Osasu Show, Na’Abba said he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to support Buhari because “I believed he wanted to add value to democracy.”

He, however, regretted his decision and vowed to vote him out of office in 2019.

“And this is three years into his administration, he doesn’t work with the party, he regards party members as evil, he doesn’t consult with anybody in the party and I am a member of the board of trustees, even though we don’t have it officially,” he had said.

SHOT 3: OBASANJO’S ‘LETTER BOMB’

In what can be termed the strongest setback for the Buhari administration, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, released a “special statement” to “brother Buhari”.

The letter spread like wildfire across news headlines and on the tongues of Nigerians.

In the letter, the elder statesman highlighted the “sins committed by Buhari”, while calling him to step down from the horse of leadership and take his roles on the sideline.

In December 2013, Obasanjo wrote a similar letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan, berating him for incompetence and nepotism.

Jonathan ignored Obasanjo’s warning by partaking in the election which eventually lost. Should Buhari learn some lessons from this? Is it advisable for the president who has not come out to declare his intention to seek re-election, to withdraw quietly? His foot soldiers are at work at the moment, should Buhari ask them to step aside? Only the president can decide whether or not he will run but one thing is certain, the days ahead will be interesting.

The 2019 race has started already.