Buhari: E Never Beg Me
I don't know whether President Umaru Yar’Adua is a fan of the late Afro beat exponent, Fela

Comfort Obi
comfort@thesourceng.com

Anikulapo- Kuti. Even if he is not, he seems to be a good student of his. During one of Fela’s many tangos with the law, he was, remember, jailed by Hon. Justice Okoro Idogu. So, he was sent to Benin prisons. One day, the honourable judge went on a routine visit to the inmates. There, he exchanged pleasantries with Fela, as he did with other inmates, asking how he was fairing. When the story of the visit was published, it read that the honourable judge had visited Fela to beg him. In a screaming headline, one publication quoted the maverick musician as saying of the judge: E Don Beg Me! It was an utterly embarrassed Okoro-Idogu who tried to put the record straight. But it was no use. Given Fela’s intimidating fan base, not many were prepared to believe the judge.
In the wake of the blunder by Major General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, recently over his relationship with Yar’Adua, I remembered the Fela-Okoro Idogu incident. A perennial presidential contestant, Buhari was the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), in the 2007 general elections. As was his fate in his previous attempts, he failed. In deed, it would have entered into the Guinness Book of Records if Buhari had won that election, or any of the elections he had taken part in. Running a very poorly funded election, it was doubtful if he had the support of even the governors of his party. He was, most of the time, at loggerheads with them. Indeed, but for, I am reliably told, the intervention of Professor Maurice Iwu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), almost all the ANPP governors wanted to decamp to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as that election approached. A scandalised Iwu had allegedly pleaded with them to remain in their party to give the election some credibility.
It was, therefore, no surprise that Buhari lost the election with a scandalous margin. But as was the case in 2003, he went to court to challenge the victory of President Yar’Adua. He lost at the Appeal Court. And has now taken his case to the Supreme Court.
I have always wondered why Buhari bothers himself protesting election results. My opinion is that Buhari will never win an election. He may, perhaps, be a presidential material, but he neither has the support base or, the financial backing to pull it. He comes in with a lot of baggage. His strict military background presents him as too rigid, and a possible dictator. He is not a good mixer. He does not laugh. Even when he does, it does not look real. My opinion is: Head or tail, the PDP presidential candidate would still have won the election. But the PDP may not have had as many states as it did. There was no opposition. The only strong opposition would have been former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. But his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo saw to it that he was completely neutralised. Not that he could have upstaged Yar’Adua. His party, the Action Congress (AC), does not have the spread to win a presidential election. Which is why I am bewildered that the PDP could even think of rigging any election. But I digress.
So, Buhari went to court. While the case was still at the Appeal Court, some prominent Nigerians, especially, from the North had gone to him, appealing that he withdraws the case against Yar’Adua’s election. He rebuffed all of them. Thus missing a soft landing to say: “okay, because of the pressure on me from prominent, well-meaning Nigerians, I will let go.”
From all indications, Buhari is fighting alone. His party had since abandoned him. It is not, therefore, out of place to ask: Which political party’s presidential candidate is Buhari? The ANPP which flag he flew, has since entered into a partnership with the Yar'Adua government. A couple of Yar’Auda's ministers are ANPP. Last week the President appointed three ANPP stalwarts as personal aides. One of them, Chineme, is the son of Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, Buhari's running mate! ANPP has since told Buhari that he is on his own.
But I had even begun to admire Buhari's resilience. And, I had begun to think that by continuing his court case, he is strengthening democracy. But that was before Buhari committed a blunder penultimate week in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Asked why he still continues with his challenge of Yar’Adua’s victory at the courts inspite of appeals from some highly placed Nigerians, including Northern Emirs, that he withdraws the case, Buhari reduced it to an ego trip. He revealed that he continues with the case because Yar’Adua shuns him; that the President had never called or visited him to appeal to him, and/or beg him to withdraw the case. Meaning that all he needs to withdraw it is an ego massage. So, this whole court thing is an ego-trip! This is scandalous.
What Buhari is saying is that the case is not about strengthening democracy, or about his beliefs, but about his ego. So, if the President had visited and begged him, he would have since withdrawn the case and not waste anybody’s time. Just imagine the moral strength of those aspiring to lead us.
I don’t know what some people see wrong in the President’s response. He said he didn’t want to call, or visit Buhari until the Supreme Court disposes of the case at hand. He said he finds Buhari’s case weak. And I think he is entitled to that opinion. Who chastised Buhari when he claimed he has a strong case? Yar’Adua gave a perfect answer. If he had personally visited and/or phoned him, we may have a repeat of the Fela-Okoro Idogu incident. The story would have been that Yar’Adua had gone to beg Buhari. The caption would have been another E Don Beg Me. Buhari feels he has a good case. Good. Let him wait till the court confirms that. He should not lobby for a presidential phone call or visit. Luckily, we have a judiciary we can trust. So what is he talking about. Or does he no longer want to be President? That will be the day.