Tinubu’s Breathtaking Hypocrisy By Shaka Momodu

When last February President Muhammadu Buhari saddled the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, with the task of reconciling all aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the country, I scoffed at the idea and stated then that it was a futile exercise. The reasons were not far-fetched: Buhari by his actions had no genuine desire at reconciling the party members; with Tinubu as the chief aggrieved member, leading such efforts was a misnomer because he needed to be reconciled with some of the party members. I predicted that by the end of his brief, the party would be more divided than before.

Barely two weeks after Tinubu’s peace committee was inaugurated, crisis rocking the Kaduna State chapter of the APC, took a turn for the worse after a building located in the heart of Kaduna city, belonging to a leader of one of the two factions, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, was demolished by the state government. Tinubu’s committee said nothing publicly about such intolerant behaviour on the part of the state governor. That it happened after Tinubu’s supposed reconciliation committee was set up showed the disregard party members had for it.

Nearly six months after he embarked on that mission impossible, not much has been heard of the progress he has made with the reconciliation exercise. What is clear to all watchers of political developments in the country is that Tinubu has failed in his given task. In the last few weeks, a lot has happened that has further aggravated tensions, exacerbated divisions, and created more aggrieved members than the pre-Tinubu committee.

Twenty state chapters of the party have various cases at the courts – a fallout of the ward, local and state congresses that were held recently. With more infighting, the APC is facing a far more uncertain future by the day despite controlling the levers of power, going by the activities of the splinter group, the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) and the looming mass defections from the party. This does not include the attempt by the APC to conduct fresh congresses in Imo State to ensure that the party structures in the state remain under the control of Governor Rochas Okorocha. Nor does it take into consideration the attempt by Tinubu to compel Minister Rotimi Amaechi to relinquish his post as campaign director general of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation, effectively creating more divisions in the ruling party.

It appears no one even remembers Tinubu’s committee or when they do, it may well be as a memoriam to its last act in search of an illusory peace. I doubt whether Tinubu himself still pretends to be reconciling anybody.

The man who gave Tinubu the job may have even forgotten about it or may be chuckling in his corner knowing it was never going to succeed. At least no one would blame him for not trying to bring the party together. He can now point the finger at Tinubu and say he failed in the assignment he (Buhari) gave him. As the various interests groups position to tear the APC apart, it is obvious the centre can no longer hold. Come to think of it, Tinubu’s opening act on his reconciliation mission was to launch a savage attack on the then chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun. In a letter dripping with entitlement, arrogance of power, laced with malice but cleverly disguised as a fight to entrench democracy, he accused Oyegun of sabotaging his “presidential assignment”. It was hardly the right way to begin a reconciliation exercise.

Now, one is tempted to ask Tinubu what he has achieved beyond the fruitless travels, photo opportunity and the false sense of relevance after he was brought back from the cold. Since then, he has been eager to impress his master, making grandiose speeches of their heroic exploits. Tinubu has been talking too much lately, criticising opposition figures in what appears to be a total denial of reality. He has been waxing lyrical and pontificating about his party’s uncommon success and commitment to Buhari’s re-election bid. In his most recent statement published June 25, he strangely, accused “elements of the PDP” of frustrating and hindering the implementation of his party’s progressive agenda. “I must mention something of high concern; our progressive agenda has been hampered because elements of the PDP remain embedded in many agencies and ministries so crucial to daily governance. They have been fifth columnists, undermining our policies at every turn. While impeding reform, they also plot the comeback of their reactionary brethren to power. This is something we should no longer abide. Our party teams with competent, reform-minded people who would perform admirably in these positions. It is time we swept out the PDP remnants and put in position, people who actually care about the citizens,” he stated.

Tinubu continued his assault on our sensibilities and reality: “They wanted to see the end of us and our pursuit of good governance for Nigeria. You should not forget, as I shall never forget, the strong efforts they made to stop us in the courts. There were 12 cases brought trying to stop us from merging, from registering the new party, then attempting to bar our candidate from the election. With their schemes foiled, those who tried to destroy us must bear witness to the destruction of their edifice of corrupt governance and their dreams of unjust domination of our nation. While they planned a lifetime of greedy enrichment by looting the people’s resources and the public treasury for 60 years, we moved to reform the economy to bring development and aid to the poor.”

A lifetime of greedy enrichment by looting the people’s resources? That line particularly struck me. Does Tinubu’s suffocating stranglehold on Lagos mean anything to anyone reading? I really don’t know why people condemn things in others, they are manifestly guilty of. I have called the attention of behavioural scientists to explain why people behave like this. They are yet to get back to me.

It appeared nobody told Tinubu that his APC-led government is a lawless one that does not respect court orders and employs every tactic to constrain the political space which had been liberalised by the immediate-past administration.

Tinubu says the courts refused to be used to bar Buhari. The irony here must be emphasised for all to see: the orders of the very same court that cleared the way for Tinubu’s candidate, Buhari to contest the 2015 election are now being treated with utmost contempt once they are deemed unfavourable to the interests of the powers that be by the same Buhari now as president. The court system and other institutions of the state are also brazenly being manipulated and abused to achieve regime’s selfish objectives, chief of which is stay in power beyond 2019. The EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu now wears Buhari’s re-election lapel on his chest as open demonstration of partisanship – jarringly similar to what happened during Abacha’s transmutation plan in 1998. Does Tinubu even reflect on all these? We have never had it so bad. Imagine for a moment that it was under the last regime, these transgressions were taking place with Tinubu in the opposition.