Forget the tongue-twister extraordinary title, embattled Yobe Governor Mai Mala Buni, is the acting national chairman of ruling APC, period. He will be more conversant with King David of ancient Israel as Prophet Dawud, since he is a Muslim. The governor who now seems to enjoy Abuja mundane mandate, more than delivering beneficial governance he promised the people who elected him, should also know about David’s infamous counsellor, Ahithopel, the Gilonite, who eventually committed suicide. When Absalom launched a palace coup against his father, Ahitophel dumped father for son and tragically advised the usurper to commit the sacrilege of sleeping with his father’s concubines, as a way of strengthening the hands of his mutinous troop. Power-hungry Absalom took the counsel a step, into the preposterous, he committed the act, in the open space of his fleeing-father’s palace. There was another David’s adviser, named Hushai the Archite. He pretended to have ported, but loyalty to David, was unshaken. He became a mole in Absalom’s camp and eventually helped David, quell the domestic but bloody rebellion.
Aftermath the Supreme Court judgement on Ondo gubernatorial poll which touched on Buni’s legitimacy to sign Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s nomination form, to INEC, all manners of Ahithopels and Hushais, have emerged around Buni and possibly adding to his confusion of being seated on two thrones. Since his current situation shares verisimilitude with David’s travails in the hands of his own, maybe he should read the Bible account in 2 Samuel 15-17, about how David navigated the home-made revolt.
Thursday night, a boss and rabbi on politics, graphically assisted in deeper understanding of the combined effect of the majority and minority rulings of the apex court, and I’m yet to see a demulcent outcome for Buni as a person, though APC was largely rescued by the majority judgement, at least, for now.
Now that the-Hosanna-today acclaim of the Omo-Ageges and crucify-him stricture of the Festus Keyamos have receded, it should be time for reappraisal for Buni, if he is as politically-intelligent as the interim job is making him to appear. Yoruba will say, when alone, rethink your thoughts.
It’s amazing APC wants to wait for the season of anomie to find out if the chalice from the judgement on Akeredolu is laced with lethal substances, when it could quickly dump the decorated danger, and live with the minimal damage of raising it up, for a toast, in the first place.
Truly, the majority judgement offered APC, not Buni, something to temporarily smile about. Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, JSC, on behalf of three other justices who saved Akeredolu by skin of the teeth, debatably held that even if Buni’s signature on Akeredolu’s nomination form is deemed invalid, nothing in the rule book says only Akpan Udo-Edehe as the party’s scribe, cannot do it alone, and still be deemed constitutional. Well, that may not be a totally safe habour, but it is a hope to cling to, over Andy Uba’s nomination as APC gubernatorial candidate for Anambra poll, signed and sent to INEC, by Buni and Akpan.
But the same Justice Agim, raised serious concern about Buni’s main job as executive governor of Yobe State, which the interim Abuja job, could vitiate, once it is judicially ruled, he is performing another executive job in Abuja. So, while APC lawyers are celebrating a supposed haven in Agim’s judgement over Anambra, where the ruling party’s November participation is almost sealed, regardless of what happens to Buni, what they are not telling the Mr. Chairman, is that his head is now the testing ground for coconut-breaking contest. If he is too busy to read, he should ask his trusted attorneys, to decode Agim’s submission on Pages 33,34,35,36 and 37, to him.
Once it is settled APC’s chair is executive, Buni kisses Damaturu’s seat, bye.
Yoruba have a strong warning for the importunate, especially one on a dangerous mission, seen as a rescue effort, as Buni’s. Eni a ba fi ori e fo agbon, ko ni ba won je nibe, literally (the one whose head is used in breaking the coconut won’t partake of the eating). Of course, he would be drenched in his own blood and nobody wants to taste blood with the crisp snack.
The seven justices on the panel, aligned on one issue; Buni’s headship of the party, is constitutionally tendentious. They were only split on whether the matter can be decided without hearing from him. Here, I agree with Justice Agim and three others who went the way of the Yoruba saying that you can’t shave a man’s head in his absence. If the Abuja job is ruled executive in nature, it is Buni and not APC, that would suffer. While Buni’s fate wasn’t the focus of the litigation being decided, Agim, appropriately situated the implication of the governor being implicated. While the nominations he signed to INEC may eventually stand if Agim’s position is held sacrosanct that the endorsement of the party’s scribe is enough to cure the deficiency of ruling Buni’s signature constitutionally incurable, the governor, would suffer personal loss, and stop being governor forthwith. That is how vulnerable Buni has found himself.
Atimes you want to ask who thinks for, or advises our leaders. For something as grievous as sudden removal from office, you would expect sound legal advice, guiding the man in the middle of it all, even if his partisan platform, isn’t coordinated enough, to know pushing Oshiomhole out the way it did, should warrant, doing everything, to avoid another legal mess, replacing him.
Because our democracy is a baba rere, baba ke (genuflecting) ensemble, in the mould of awada kerikeri comedy, those who went to court to challenge the dissolution of the Oshiomhole’s exco, beat a quick retreat, because the President must not be upset. How do we deepen our jurisprudence when one elected official at the top of the pyramid becomes the lord of hell, that must receive all manners of libation, including lumping common sense and uncommon courage, in a broken pot as sacrifice, even when he is the problem to be solved.
Definitely, Buni got the additional Abuja job at the pleasure of the President. He must be saved and in the process, golden rule interpretation of the law, may bow to some trickery, tweaking, and the treacherous. He will likely survive by sleight. It has happened before. Though there are good men and women, with faces hidden under the drooping wig, some, at high places, are too political, to be professional. By common sense, it should be easy to see the office of a National Chairman of a party as executive, in nature and anyone exercising it, whether temporarily, as argued by Justice Agim, or not, is doing an executive job, but nothing is and should be, conclusive, especially in law.
Whenever APC is in crisis, the leaders always reach for koboko. It may not work this time. In Kwara APC, something is cooking and may boil over soon.
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