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How a failed plot by Nigeria’s secret police vigorously shook the Buhari Presidency

Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of governance, was barely roaring to life Tuesday morning when the country was jolted with news of a blockade of the National Assembly by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS)

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Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of governance, was barely roaring to life Tuesday morning when the country was jolted with news of a blockade of the National Assembly by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

The men, fully clad in combat wears and clutching assault rifles, stood menacingly, and held their grounds while stranded lawmakers fretted as they were denied entry to their offices. Only one of the masked men managed to utter, ‘Orders from above’ as reason for the stand-off.

The embarrassing incident was captured on live television.

The day before had offered an inkling into what would transpire. Senate President Bukola Saraki had informed that, in response to demands by the Buhari administration, the leadership of the National Assembly would meet Tuesday to consider some matters of urgent national interest.

The lawmakers had been on recess and were hoping to return to legislative duties late September. Among the issues that required the attention of the legislature were requests by the Executives for funding of the country’s electoral commission, INEC, and a supplementary budget for 2018.

The vacation itself had been hurriedly put together. It came almost minutes after some 52 lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives upset the nation’s power structure by defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Critics have argued that the vacation was forced to prevent the Presidency and the ruling party from contemplating an immediate response. The handicap was not to last for long. Plot to undo Saraki, who himself had joined the defection gale and become leader of the camp, was activated clandestinely.

The Chairman of the ruling party, Adams Oshiomhole, fired the first shot, calling on Saraki to ‘honorably’ relinquish the ‘crown’. Other members of APC were not as diplomatic and made veiled references to impeachment plans, insisting that it ran against common norm and convention for a minority party to produce the leadership of the legislature.

Monday night had seen both parties building scenarios on what the opposing camp could be working on. While the APC feared PDP could embarrass the Presidency with an impeachment move, the latter was almost certain that the Senate President was going to be removed.

By Tuesday, mutual suspicions had run so deep. This was not helped by confirmed reports of planned defection of the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, from PDP to APC.

Speculations had been rife that Akpabio was being positioned to take over the position of the Senate President.

The drama of Tuesday reached a climax when the bunch of APC legislators boycotted the meeting called by the Senate President, Saraki, opting instead to hold a caucus assembly elsewhere in the nation’s capital. While they retreated, their PDP counterparts were left to confront the siege by DSS operatives, spurring speculations that the Presidency was remotely linked to the ugly scenes that had played out.

With uproar from the media, and global attention turned to Nigeria, attempts to breach the constitution caved in. The platoon of secret policemen were quickly withdrawn, leaving Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to tackle what many have now described as an assault on Nigeria’s democracy.

Osinbajo’s immediate move to mange the image disaster was to order the sack and arrest of the Director-General of DSS, Lawal Daura, who had been fingered as the unseen hand in the Tuesday fiasco that brought the country so much shame.

In a terse statement made via his twitter handle, Osinbajo’s media aide, Laolu Akande, said, “AgP has directed the termination of the appointment of the DG of DSS Lawal Musa Daura.

“Mr Daura has been directed to handover to the most senior officer of the State Security Service until further notice”

He added, “the unlawful act which was done without the knowledge of the Presidency is condemnable and completely unacceptable.

“By this statement, Professor Osinbajo is consequently assuring Nigerians that all persons within the law enforcement apparatus who participated in this travesty will be identified and subjected to appropriate disciplinary action”.

Many have hailed Osinbajo’s initiative but not a few are worried that he may be ruffling some feathers given that the sacked Daura is not just an appointee of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari but also a very close kinsman.

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While Buhari is expected to be back from vacation in a couple days, his media aide, Femi Adesina, addressing the press on Wednesday said, “the Presidency is one”, in obvious reference to insinuations that Osinbajo may not have secured his principal’s not before firing his appointee.

Analysts argue that the full import of Daura’s sack can only be felt if Buhari returns to office and sustains the Vice President’s effort at enforcing constitutionalism and rule of law.

The battle against impunity remains a huge challenge. Buhari will resume from leave to meet the case of Benue and Akwa Ibom States whose accounts have been frozen by the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Close watchers believe that the dilemma of both states may not be far from the fact they had been caught up in the defection saga.

APC and PDP continue to trade blames over the National Assembly fracas, with each side accusing the other of recruiting the secret police in pursuit of party agenda.

Politics

South Africa: Opposition Democratic Alliance open to coalition with ruling ANC

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The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-most popular party in South Africa, has revealed that it would not rule out a compromise with the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

The DA says it will consider the move if the ANC does not get the necessary majority to maintain its hold on power in the May elections.

The May 29 election might prove to be the biggest test yet for Nelson Mandela’s former party which has ruled South Africa since the end of white minority rule thirty years ago. Voters dissatisfied with inadequate service delivery, unemployment, crime, and power outages might cause the ANC to lose its legislative majority according to pollsters.

Another bottleneck for the ANC is the factional division it has suffered with former President Jacob Zuma’s political base out of the party, having created the uMkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation). In that case, as the president of South Africa is chosen by the parliament, neither President Cyril Ramaphosa nor a replacement for the position could hold onto power without the support of a coalition.

“It would depend on which ANC you’re dealing with and what their programme of action is,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said, declining to disclose whether any talks had already taken place.

“I’m not ruling out anything, depending on what the election results are.”

Meanwhile, Nomvula Mokonyane, the ANC’s deputy party secretary, informed reporters earlier this month that the party was not thinking about forming a coalition government with other parties and that she did not believe a power-sharing agreement would succeed.

To garner the majority of votes required to win government, the Democratic Alliance has united with smaller parties. These include the longtime ANC bitter rival, the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party; additionally, Action SA, which has developed a platform based on a strong anti-immigration stance and appeals to working- and middle-class voters; and Freedom Front Plus, which targets rural white South Africans who feel politically marginalized since apartheid.

While the EFF is well-liked among low-income Black South Africans, companies and the rich view the DA as a party that supports business. The EFF pledges to address land ownership disparities and nationalize industries.

“It’s a long shot,” Steenhuisen said. He added that if the opposition coalition did not win, his priority would be to prevent the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from getting a seat on the executive.

“What I call the ‘doomsday coalition’ … is a tie-up between the EFF and the ANC,” he said.

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44-year-old Bassirou Faye set to become Senegal’s president

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The leading opposition candidate in Sunday’s presidential election in Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is set to become the president-elect of the West African country.

Faye, who was released from prison only a few days ago, is winning with almost 54% of the vote, with 90% of the ballots counted by the electoral commission.

Following the counting of 90% of the polling station results, the Senegalese Electoral Commission declared that Faye had secured 53.68% of the vote, while Amadou Ba, the candidate for the ruling coalition, secured 36.2% of the vote.

For him, everything changed in July when fiery popular leader and fellow detainee, Ousmane Sonko, was accused of insurrection and disqualified from contesting to succeed President Macky Sall in elections. This cleared the way for Faye to seize control of the race, and on Monday, his 44th birthday, emerge victorious after his opponent gave up.

Much of Faye’s success can be attributed to the support of Sonko who enjoys high popularity, particularly among young people.

Other presidential contenders had called Faye to concede defeat. Ba, another major contender in the election, in a statement, said, “In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate… Faye for his victory in the first round.”

Shortly before the announcement, outgoing President Macky Sall also congratulated Faye, “I salute the smooth running of the presidential election of March 24, 2024, and congratulate the winner, Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the trends show as the winner. It is the victory of Senegalese democracy.”

“In electing me, the Senegalese people have decided on a break with a past,” Faye told journalists in his first public appearance since the election. “your I promise to govern with humility and transparency.”

Many anticipate that following three years of unparalleled political upheaval and multiple waves of lethal anti-government protests, the vote will bring economic stability and a boost. Already, there are reports that Faye’s imminent victory have caused Senegal’s international bonds to rise, reversing steep declines from earlier in the day.

The Dakar appeals court is anticipated to release the complete, official results on Friday.

Senegal is a republic with multiple parties. The president, who is chosen by universal adult direct suffrage and is eligible for two five-year terms, is the head of state under the 2001 constitution, which established a highly centralized presidential system. The president appoints the prime minister, who leads the government.

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