ASO ROCK WATCH: Mourning ‘strongman’ Abba Kyari, plus that hasty attack on Senator Ndume

In the morning of last week Saturday, Nigerians woke up to the news of the demise of Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. The Special Assistant to the President on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement disclosed that Kyari died of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The deceased had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19, and had been receiving treatment. But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020,” Adesina stated.

He reportedly contracted the deadly virus when he traveled to Germany on March 7 to represent the President in meetings with Siemens Group on the Nigeria electricity expansion programme. He had also traveled to Egypt. He returned to the country on March 14. A week after, based on medical advice, he went for a test which, unfortunately, turned out positive.

When his COVID-19 status was made public, it generated uproar at the Aso villa because he had had contacts with several people. Some reports had claimed at the time that he did not embark on self-isolation because the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had not listed Germany as one of the high risk countries of the pandemic.

He was flown to Lagos to begin treatment for the virus. This had immediately raised fundamental issues over the preparedness of the Nigerian government to even manage the pandemic within the nation’s capital. It also brought home the scandal that had earlier raged over budgetary allocations to the Presidency clinic. Interestingly, not even the Gwagwalada Isolation Centre in Abuja was trusted to care for Abba Kyari. It would be revealed later that he had made a private arrangement for his treatment in Lagos, as contained in a letter he released which would incidentally be his last communication to the Nigerian populace.

“I have made my own care arrangements to avoid further burdening the public health system, which faces so many pressures. Like many others that will test also positive, I have not experienced high fever or other symptoms associated with this new virus and have been working from home. I hope to be back at my desk very soon,” the statement read in part.

It was learnt that he died at First Cardiology Consultants in Lagos. His remains arrived Abuja last Saturday morning and was buried at Gudu cemetery after funeral prayers at his residence. There were cries of lack of respect for rules at his burial as people defied the social distancing order instituted by the NCDC. Even before the burial proper, pictures of people who came out to pray for him had gone viral on social media as they did not observe necessary protocols.

The disrespect for COVID-19 guidelines has since drawn widespread condemnations, leading many to ask if there were a different set of rules for different categories of Nigerians. It is disturbing that the government had to literally swallow its own words by denying earlier statements credited to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, that corpses of coronavirus patients would not be released for burials immediately. So, the question, why did the Presidency allow the funeral to go on when such had reportedly been banned to check the spread of the virus?

Read also: ASO ROCK WATCH: That presidential approval to employ 774, 000 Nigerians. 2 other talking points

The blunder is, perhaps, better illustrated with the sad tale of a viral video on social media which caught an unidentified official disposing his Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) close to the scene of the burial without adequate precautions. Though officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) claim to have disposed the PPE properly, concerns are still rife that dangers loom ahead.

For the many who have perceived Kyari as head of a certain imaginary cabal, it is left to be seen how his demise will alter power dynamics within the presidency.

Furthermore, an important question agitating the minds of many is how President Buhari will fill the yawning gap. Will he use the appointment of a new Chief of Staff to show his critics that he is a nationalist, weaned completely of nepotistic tendencies? The days ahead seem pregnant.

That hasty attack on Senator Ndume

The Presidency, also last week, challenged Senator Ali Ndume to provide proofs of fraud in the distribution of relief items by the palliatives’ committee led by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ms Sadiya Farouq. The Senator, who represents Borno South at the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, held a press conference in his Maiduguri home on April 15, and called for the disbandment of the committee on the grounds of unfair and fraudulent distribution of palliatives to the target audience across the country.

“I am not trying to make allegations against the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; what I’m saying are facts. If they will continue with the way they are doing now, they had better not distribute the palliative at all because it’s a fraud,” he stressed. He advised the President to disband the committee now if he still cared to salvage what was left of his reputation.

In a swift reaction to the allegations, however, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, challenged Ndume to back his allegations with facts or stop mere “innuendos.”

“The President has made it clear times without number that anyone who will not, cannot, does not pull his weight – nor meet these exacting standards – is not welcome in his administration. A number of ranking officials have been shown the way out at various times simply on account of this.

“Similarly, he believes in loyalty and truthfulness. Should any individuals be found to be serving themselves and not the people, then it is right and proper to call them out. But this must be done on the basis of evidence and proof – not on conjecture,” he stated.

The hasty attempt to rubbish Ndume may serve the presidency well, but it must be noted that the outcry over alleged mis-management of the COVID-19 palliatives is one that cuts across different sections of the Nigerian society. It would be advisable, therefore, that Mr President welcomes Ndume’s observations same way he did those of the two arms of the National Assembly.

Fighting corruption is one strong pillar of the Buhari administration. As such, it is expected that the Presidency should not dismiss with a wave of the hand any allegation of corruption heaped on it, especially when it is a unified call for a review of what may have gone wrong with an initiative.

By John Chukwu…

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