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By Suleiman Umaru
President Muhammadu Buhari, who is counting days in office appears to have sent a message to Nigerians that he mantle of leadership has changed unofficially as he was said to have relocated from the Presidential Villa into the popular Glass House , as Constitutional required, ahead of inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,, a former governor of Lagos Lagos state and President-elect on the platform of All Progressive Congress, APC, whom Pastor Enock Adejare Adeboye, the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has reportedly said would ‘’fix Nigeria’’.
The Glass, according to a top official of the Presidential Villa, Nigeria’s Seat of power, has served as a transitional residence for any outgoing Nigerian President and their family members during the Transition period to usher in the next President to the State House.
Buhuhari and his Spouse, may have moved in the glass house around the Villa , preparatory to his final relocation to Daura, his home town, in Katsina state,about eight Kilometers to Niamey , Capital of the West African country of Niger , Republic, which is under the siege of the Bandits Group. The implications of moving the Seat of government to the Glass house, for the remaining days of his Administration clearly shows that he is gradually relinquishing power to his political ally, Tinubu.
Although, the former Lagos governor and Kashim Shettima, the Vice President-elect, whose elections, are still being contested in the Presidential Election Tribunal by Atiku Abubakar, a former, Vice President, during Olusegun Obasanjo’s Administration and Candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi, a one-time governor of Anambra state and flag bearer of the Labour Party, LP, the dual have no one in doubt they are now in-charge with their secret appoints.
Signs that the President –elect and some of his kitchen cabinet who are waiting in the wings to move into the Villa, by May 29, 2023, is evide nt as Hajia Aisha Buhari, the outgoing First Lady, has taken Senator Oluremi, aPastor in RCCG and in-coming First Lady round the state House.
She was said to have introduced Senator Oluremi, the in-coming First Lady to the various areas of the House occupied over the last seven years and providing detailed information regarding the history and importance of each office. Many believe that Hajia Buhari, could do that because both the in-coming and out –going Presidents are Chieftains and co-founders of the ruling APC.
The outgoing First Lady may not have benefited from such from Dame Patience Jonathan, wife of Former President Goodluck Jonathan as there was no close relationship because they were members of two different Political parties. By showing her round the man State House , may have given the in-coming First Lady, an insight how the Villa looks like to be able to take effective control once She moves in with the President-elect, Tinubu, her Husband for the business of governance of the country, until the Court decides on the February 25, 22023, Presidential election.
Indeed, relocating to the Glass House , according to political analysts provides a ‘’symbolic and literal space for the outgoing Nigerian President , and crating room for the incoming President to fully take charge.
In her apparent reaction to the Complete tour of the State House, an Appreciative Senator Oluremi, the incoming First Lady, had thanked Haji Buhari for ‘’the opportunity availed her to see much of main House and the magnanimity of her host Describing the explanations given to her about the House in such a short time as ‘’overwhelming to grasp’’, she averred that ‘’God will her to be able to make an impactful contribution to the nation’’. The incoming First Lady, who is believed to be a Pastor in the RCCG, also believes that God would help her ‘’make positive impacts and build upon the legacy of the outgoing First Lady’’.
Indeed, what she had said was not different from the position of her Husband, Tinubu , the President-elect , who had repeatedly said during the electioneering Campaigns and after the conduct of the Presidential election on February 25, 2023, that Mahmoud Yakubu, a Professor and Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared him the winner, that he will sustain the legacies of the Katsina state born Nigerian President if elected the next President of Nigeria to pursue the renewed hope agenda diligently .
Many believe that the only legacy which the outgoing President has for Nigerians is a debt burden of over $80 billion for the next President and who may continue in the borrowing habit to run his Administration.
Given his penchant for borrowing from Multi-lateral Financial Institutions, Paris Club, London Club, World Band and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, including the Asian country of China Development Bank, at this tail end of his Administration, he was said to have asked Ahmad Lawan led outgoing 9th Senate, ‘’to approve a new loan request of $800 million , which is to be sourced from the Work Bank.
In justifying the loan, the Nigerian President in a Letter to the Lawan, the outgoing Senate President , the Nigerian President had aid that the $800 million fresh loan from the World Bank would be used ‘’to sale up the National Social Safety Net Programme, NASSP, to assist poor and vulnerable Nigerians in coping with the costs of meeting basic needs.
For the first time, officials of the Budget office who had remained silent over the past seven years that Buhari, had turned Nigerian into a debtor nation, had raised alarm that ‘’Nigeria was fat exceeding its borrowing limit’’, which may not be good news for the incoming Tinubu’s Administration.
Last March , the Debt Management Office, DMO, under the close watch of Patience Oniha , had aid that Nigerians total debt public debt stock , excluding external and domestic debts , ha increased to N46.25 trillion or $103.11 as at the fourth quarter of 2022, under the Buhari’s Administration.
While Buhari is gradually leaving the stage for Tinubu , the President –elect and Kashim Shettima, the Vice President-elect,, who many had said ought to be concerned about the country’s mounting debt that would be left behind by the Buhari’s Administration, may have preoccupied themselves, particular, the Vice President-elect in influencing the outgoing President in making more political appointments.
The recent, appointment of Ibrahim Abba Umar, a one-time Personal Assistant to the Vice President-elect as the new Executive Director. Engineering and Technical Service of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, speaks volume.
The Vice-President, may have positioned Umar, to be the Managing Director of NPA, after Mohammed Bello-Koko, who is expected to be relieved of his appointment. Tinubu, the President-elect, may have agreed to the appointment as most of the agencies’ Chief Executive Officers, CEO, would be replaced to bring in loyalists that would support the party in terms of financial need.
The outgoing Nigerian President was said to have also appointmented Garba Baba Umar, a retiring Assistant Inspector General, AIG, of Police as a Senior Security Adviser on International Police Cooperation and Counter-terrorism in the office of the minister of Police Affairs.
