When President Muhammadu Buhari decided to publicly back the Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, against his Minister of Economy (Finance, Budget, and National Planning=Economy), Zainab Ahmed, in debating the sense of redesigning the nation’s currency at a time like this, the President simply told the Minister, she is surplus to requirement in shaping one of his major legacy projects.
Having been publicly shamed, Zainab should have been gone by now, but resigning over a presidential rebuke, would be seen as against the run of play, around here. Except fired or forced to resign, office holders in Nigeria, regardless of the extent of public ridicule subjected to, will rather hang on, needed or not. The few, like Kemi Adeosun, Zainab’s predecessor, had no refuge to run to. Her godfather reportedly abandoned her and she gotta go.
The seat currently occupied by Zainab is arguably the most important cabinet position after the AGF office, which the Constitution (section 174) says is a must-have. In a normal setup, there is no consideration that should leave her out of the coffee-room team, handling the project. And for her to hang on, after the double humiliation, first, of being left out and of being openly rebuked by the President, should be a red flag, considering the project’s political and economic implications.
The Zainab no-show also speaks to the poorly-concealed dysfunction in Buhari’s economic team, which the Nigerian people have been paying dearly for. The obvious power-play and influence-peddling within the team, is surely hurting the economy because when team members undermine one another, it is the national assignment that will bear the brunt.
In an administration where no one is providing an all-encompassing leadership, and everyone trying to leverage relevance to make the most of the time left, I personally believe there is no chance in a million Zainab first heard about the currency project the day Emefiele made a formal announcement. The patronage her office can dispense would see to her, even getting unsolicited information, though she is considered a featherweight in the global economic community.
Her claim at the senate appearance was just griping, for being officially considered inconsequential and a liability. But her statement would still be factual, if there was no official correspondence to her office, even if verbally notified by Godwin, which isn’t even the case here.
Though CBN is autonomous so to say, (the President’s wish per time, is the real autonomy for a genuflecting fellow like Emefiele), the decision to keep the ma’am in charge of the economy out of the loop on the project, can’t definitely be Emefiele’s, no matter how rascally and reckless he has portrayed self, especially with the dangerous incursion into APC presidential field as CBN governor. The decision to humiliate Zainab and obviously her backers in the political spectrum was firmly the President. To show Zainab that it was his fight when she threw the gauntlet at the senate, it was Aso Rock that picked it up, firing a broadside at her.
Since September 14, 2018, when Buhari elevated her to replace Adeosun, it would be the first time the Minister would be openly scolded by the President and for someone who rarely moves against his appointees, the matter, this time, must be very serious and the implementation very dear to his heart. He was very clear that he is targeting political and economic saboteurs.
On June 27, 1942, America captured eight saboteurs working for Germany on American soil. A military commission found them guilty. One was sentenced to, life imprisonment, another to 30 years, and six received the death penalty, which was carried out within a few days.
The President is a former military man. Though a civilian now, his understanding of how saboteurs are treated, must still be with him. By excusing a senior cabinet member like Zainab from a project with the potential to define his entire public life, in khaki and agbada, he must have stretched the consideration beyond the harmless-looking, soft-speaking woman, with a gentle mien.
But he doesn’t trust her either. When you keep a piece of important information from someone who can’t affect the potency of it, you don’t want him or her, to snitch to those who could cancel its efficacy. Yoruba will call such a fellow, olofofo.
Somehow, I want to concede to the President he possibly had genuine concerns to keep Zainab away at the incubatory stage. He possibly would have ignored her and her tendencies if they do not possess the capacity, to make complete nonsense of the policy and ruin the entire memory of the President, outside the office.
At least, recent history shows he ignored now-late Aisha Al-Hassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba when a leaked video showed her preference for Atiku as President over and above her principal’s re-election. That was simply not wishing the President well. But he took it in his strides, allowing Hajia to continue in office as Women Affairs minister, until she voluntarily resigned on July 27, 2018, to seek Taraba governorship. The President knew she posed no direct threat.
But how dangerous can Zainab and her promoters in government be, to the legacy project?. The minister is from Kaduna State. As things stand today, nobody gets anything due to the state from the federal, without the support of the governor. He is a self-confessed Buharist, but also led the coup that toppled the Northern agenda of the President, regarding APC’s presidential candidate, the same way he led the coup against another benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term bid.
The political class has largely opted for radio silence since the President announced his desire to tackle vote-buying that twice bought victory for him, even if he wasn’t the direct spender. When the class is buffeted, platforms don’t matter again. When I joked to a top politician that dibokose’be (vote-buying) would have to be in dollars this time, since politicians would not have access to bullion vans, he assured me that at least two of the leading presidential candidates can commandeer billions of naira, anytime they need cash for election purposes. Banks’ CEOs are politicians’ toys and are ready to risk jail term for a potential incoming President than serving the interest of an outgoing lame-duct incumbent. Any loss suffered now, will be recouped from June 2023.
Once the banks’ chiefs are in, only CBN can salvage the project, by greatly limiting cash flow to the banks. But can Emefiele himself say no to those who ran his ill-fated presidential campaign? Can the nation trust him, to deal with the crookedness of his banker colleagues who are likely to preserve all redesigned naira notes for their politician-patrons, just like they currently do with the dollar, to the detriment of everyday Nigerian? Will Nigerians go through the obvious pains of the policy, without the gain of having their electoral will on the ascendancy?
Now that it is still day, the President can still pull the policy by announcing an indefinite extension of the takeoff date, if his honest review predicts a loss against those waiting to cancel the policy, within his government and elsewhere.
But if he is ready to fight for the people, like his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan, he might just snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, whether APC wins or loses.
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