Between Jonathan’s transformation and Buhari’s change

February 17, 2015

Jonathan and Buhari

In this piece, TOLUWANI ENIOLA examines the interviews by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The news of a proposed debate between the two major presidential candidates of the 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress, was widely welcomed by many Nigerians who had been seeking avenues to weigh the options of who to vote for at the polls.

While many Nigerians looked forward to the debate with curiosity, it failed to hold. The APC had declined to present its candidate on the grounds of perceived bias on the part of the organisers. The APC spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, said the party distanced itself from the debate because “the organisers were biased and we don’t want to be ambushed.” Mohammed, however, said the party would honour the debate if the organisers are credible.

Recent interviews granted by the two presidential candidates, however, compensated for the failed debate as many Nigerians listened to Buhari and Jonathan discussed their plans for the country.

While Jonathan was interviewed by Nigerian journalists on the Nigerian Television Authority, Buhari was interviewed by CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Christine Amanpour, on the same day. That the interviews were held virtually at the same time but on different platforms further sparked interest. some 30 minutes after Jonathan’s interview commenced, Buhari appeared on CNN. The interviews provided a great opportunity to compare the plans of the two candidates. The week preceding this, Buhari had entertained questions on Aljazeera.

Jonathan, during the live media chat apparently organised to calm the tension generated by the postponement of the general elections, spoke on the alleged plot to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the postponement of the elections, insurgency and corruption, among others.

Buhari also fielded similar questions from Amanpour. The APC candidate’s voice was, however, clearer and sharper than other occasions when he spoke on local media. Amanpour took turns to ask him about his reaction to the poll shift, his plans on ensuring the return of the Chibok girls if elected in March; corruption and allegations of human rights abuses levelled against his military regime.

Justifying the election postponement on the grounds of insecurity earlier presented by the security chiefs, President Jonathan failed to assuage the suspicion of the opposition who believed that he (Jonathan) prevailed on the Independent National Electoral Commission to shift the polls in order to buy more time. Although INEC had maintained that it was ready to conduct the elections, Jonathan said INEC was not ready.

Jonathan said, “When INEC picked the dates for elections, the threat level was not high until we started the campaign. So, it was important for the security chiefs to review the security architecture, otherwise, the country would have gone up in flames.

“When the issue of PVC was being branded as a problem, INEC, from what Jega mentioned that day, clearly was not ready for the elections. They said they were ready but they were not. The day we held that meeting that led to this adjustment of dates, in Lagos for example, only about 38 per cent of registered voters had their PVCs. That means if we conduct elections in Lagos, 62 per cent of   voters   would not have been able to vote.”

Buhari, while reacting to the poll delay, disagreed with Jonathan and the PDP on the reasons behind the postponement of the elections. He maintained that INEC was forced by the military to delay the elections even after INEC insisted it was prepared.

While responding to questions about the Chibok girls, Jonathan did not promise their quick return. His simple response was that he was “confident that most of the girls would be rescued soon.” Jonathan, however, said he does not want to be quoted that the girls would be rescued in two weeks, further confirming that he is not convinced of his assurance that the girls will be freed soon.

The President had said, “I believe now that we are working with Chad and Cameroon, in the next few weeks, the story of the Chibok girls will change. It’s going to get better. I believe we should be able to rescue some of them. But I don’t want to be quoted; I don’t want you to say the President said so, that in two weeks time or in four weeks time, I cannot say that because the disappearance of those girls has taken quite some time. But we have mapped out strategies, we are working with our neighbours and we will comb all the areas. So, just give us some time.”

The request for more time which seems to have been the President’s usual response on the subject contrasted sharply with Buhari’s view about the real reasons why Nigerian soldiers have failed to curb the insurgency. The APC presidential candidate, who is contesting  the fourth time, noted that the Federal Government was not prepared to fight Boko Haram.

He told Aljazeera, “I made a statement early on which some Nigerian media reported. The troops deployed in Ekiti State where we (APC) believe we were rigged out, if they were deployed in the North-East, they would have been able to rescue our over 220 girls that were abducted by Boko Haram. They know where the girls are and know whether they have the capacity to rescue them or not. Another interesting part of the Jonathan interview was when he had to clarify the difference between stealing and corruption. The President had said that there was a difference between the two acts. He was, however, swift in correcting the statement credited to him that stealing is not corruption.

Jonathan   insisted that many social vices were being wrongly referred to as corruption. He cited an example that people could be easily isolated or lynched if they were called thieves rather than being referred to as being corrupt. Jonathan’s stance about the relationship between the two acts has continued to generate reactions.

For the sake of clarity, many are of the opinion that both corruption and stealing mean the same. A lawyer and human rights activist, Prof. Itse Sagay, in an interview with Saturday Punch, puts it succinctly when he said, “Ultimately, every act of corruption is an act of stealing. There is no question about it. There is no moral or ethical difference between them. Both are criminal, immoral and anti-social acts and nobody should attempt to make one look lighter than the other. People who commit either should be dealt with seriously.”

Buhari was firm on his stance on the subject of corruption. He said during the interview with CNN that corruption has to be tackled “because there are serious citizens of this country that (have) said unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

When asked by Amanpour what he thought of Obasano’s endorsement, Buhari said, “It would certainly bring more supporters to us and more confidence again to us for those who are sitting on the fence.”

He described Obasanjo as a highly respected politician, adding that as far as the Nigerian nation is concerned, “there is no serious issue that can be discussed without people seeking his opinion and listening to it.”

Exhibiting the spirit of sportsmanship, Jonathan said he is ready to hand over to Buhari if he loses the election just as he debunks the insinuation that he is planning to send Jega on a terminal leave.

The president said, “In 2011, I said I will conduct a free and fair election and that if I lose, I will happily move on and that it should be recorded. Then I just concluded the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure. I said I will be happy to go if I lose. I said this nation is more important than anybody. Anyone who wants to hold the office of   President and feels he is more important than the nation is not right. So, if as of 2011, I made a commitment that if I lose I will go, it should tell you more about my stand on free and fair elections.”

While discussing their strategies about how to end the insurgency, Buhari and Jonathan expressed different views about the problem. While Jonathan accused his opponents of politicising the kidnap of the Chibok girls, Buhari   maintained that the military had been unable to overcome the insurgents because “resources meant for the military had been misappropriated.”

Buhari listed the failed plans by the National Assembly to probe the funding of the Army over the last three years and interviews granted to foreign media by soldiers, whom he said, claimed that they had to fight without proper weapons, to back his claim.

He said, “The National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing by getting the budget approved by the National Assembly over the last three years and inviting the service chiefs to come and tell them why the weapons were not procured and sent to the soldiers under competent leadership and that hearing was scuttled. So, it showed the misapplication or misappropriation of the resources provided by government and says why the Nigerian military was unable to defeat Boko Haram.”

The President said, “People are playing politics with Chibok girls and it is very unfortunate. In other countries, when there is an issue of terror, political boundaries collapse and people work together. The interest of the country is paramount but in this case when we have terror, then Nigerians believe it is better to go to the United States or the United Kingdom or France and appear on television to celebrate themselves. Is that how we will bring back those girls?

“Let us face facts. When there was 9/11 in the US, how many Americans went round the world criticising their government? Is it by carrying flags and singing around the world that we will bring those girls back? I expected that those with international connections would help the country and not the other way round.”

President Jonathan’s interview ended on a philosophical note. Asked about what he would do differently if he is re-elected, President Goodluck Jonathan confessed that he had learnt a lesson. He said he had learnt that Nigerians don’t really care about what is done but about how the things really get done.

On how prepared he is at 72 to tackle the immense challenges of Africa’s largest economy and Africa’s most populous nation, Buhari said, “My countrymen remember me for the proper utilisation of those resources in education, infrastructure, roads, social services, healthcare, etc. and these are still there to be seen by a lot of Nigerians.”