How Buhari’s leadership style queries his competences, creates further risks for struggling economy

As the latest scandal in Nigeria’s historically reputation-challenged oil industry continues to generate widespread reactions, the issues thrown up so far in the allegations contained in the leaked memo from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and the points made in the counter-response from the Nigerian National Petroleum Resources (NNPC), point to a larger issue— President Muhammadu Buhari’s now-established flawed detached leadership style.

In Kachikwu’s memo, he had accused Maikanti Baru, the NNPC’s Group Managing Director, of insubordination, recounting instances of being sidelined alongside the NNPC board in crucial decisions including the award of contracts over the $20 million threshold totaling $25 billion, as well as staff retirement, replacement and promotion, all matters he argued were mandated by the NNPC Act to require authorization from the NNPC board.

He also made a startling revelation in the leaked memo. He stated that he had been trying to book an appointment with the president to discuss these pertinent issues and some other industry issues to no avail. This disclosure was met by utmost bewilderment in many quarters. Many could not believe that a minister of the country could be struggling to secure a meet with the president given the stakes, no less a minister in the country’s most strategic ministry, and one assigned the direct role of co-managing the ministry with the president.

Some were even quick to recall the president’s words in 2015 when reacting to the criticisms and concerns raised over his delay in appointing ministers. The president had said ministers were mere noisemakers and argued that the people who did the real work were civil servants in the various ministries. Could the Kachikwu disclosure be a proof of the president’s expressed disposition towards minsters? Some wondered.

Alas! Buhari was in on it from the outset
Interestingly, Baru did not issue a response in his capacity as the NNPC GMD. Instead, the NNPC delivered the rebuttal. Perhaps a more interesting fact was that the corporation stated in its response that “the President ordered the Group Managing Director (GMD) and Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to consider and respond expeditiously to the allegations”.

What this means is that the president actually authorized a press release from the NNPC as against the option of the more structured and bureaucratic approach of constituting a panel of enquiry where all allegations and responses could be presented and taken into account before appropriate recommendations made including prescription of punishments were someone to be found culpable.

It is likely that the choice of this approach was because, as the NNPC so copiously touted in its response, the presidency was in the know all through and even sanctioned the actions of the GMD and the management. The NNPC had said, “It is important to note from the outset that the law and the rules do not require a review or discussion with the Minister of State or the NNPC Board on contractual matters.

“What is required is the processing and approval of contracts by the NNPC Tenders Board, the President in his executive capacity or as Minister of Petroleum, or the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as the case may be”.

If anyone had expected a national emergency declared by the president after Kachikwu’s damning memo surfaced including Kachikwu himself, those lines in the NNPC response surely banished such thoughts. And herein lies the real problem— President Buhari had actually not only tolerated a system that sidelined his own appointed supporting minister who is the actual expert between the two of them, but even encouraged the consequent insubordination by so doing.

Fertile grounds for pro-North suspicions
Also, those who had long argued that the president was too pro-North, especially in his appointments, may feel an added level of justification. They will point to the fact that since Baru had the president’s backing, he would most certainly have okayed the recent controversial lopsided top-level appointments within the NNPC as this was also one of the contentious issues that Kachikwu raised in his memo, and which was surprisingly left out of the NNPC’s response. Was this done because there was no solid defence?

The appointments were not only dominated by Northerners, but had the inexplicable situation of not even a single person from the South East included.

Read also: More trouble for NNPC boss Baru, as Senate summons him, others

Some more cynical observers have already concluded that the appointments together with the earlier constitution of the NNPC board, also dominated by Northerners, were mere extensions of a sweeping northernization policy by the Buhari administration, warning that Kachikwu’s sidelining may just be the latest in the strategic move towards maintaining a stranglehold on Nigeria’s cash-cow industry.

Some have even gone as far as pointing to controversial oil exploration efforts in the Lake Chad Basin and newly-disclosed similar efforts in Sokoto and Yobe states, as further proof of their alleged long-term Northern agenda in the control of Nigeria’s oil resources.

Even some observers sympathetic to the president have conceded his role in allowing such suspicions to fester, advising him to take into account the diversity of the country in making appointments, ensuring that federal character is factored in, and that he not only acts equitably, but be seen to be so doing at all times.

The Kachikwu-Baru saga just one example of many clashes under Buhari

To the issue of leadership, this will not be the first time that the president had, through his rather disengaged approach to management, allowed needless squabbles amongst his core team or other officials within the larger structure of government to which he has controlling influence, ending up not only just embarrassing his government, but more importantly, threatening some important public objectives with the promise of real impact for millions of Nigerians. Examples abound.

The Adeosun-Ali clash
In February of 2016, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, openly clashed with the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali during a Senate budget defense session over the issue of the customs being entitled to special salary package. Adeosun, whose ministry supervises the Customs Service, had disagreed with Ali who was pushing for the special salary package, insisting that special salaries for customs officers could only be applicable if the service improved its IGR. Ali had in return accused the Ministry of Finance of being the hurdle towards the attainment of its set revenue targets. He said the ministry denied customs substantial earnings because of waivers granted to some big corporations.

This was interpreted as an open display of insubordination by Ali to his supervising minister, while some also wondered why they did not compare notes before the appearance, pointing to the issue of poor agency-ministry coordination, and the absence of a looming president whose influence prevented such dissenting public displays. But this was just tip of things to come.

The Kachikwu-Amaechi episode

In June 2016, Kachikwu disagreed with the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi publicly. In a town hall meeting in the Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, Kachikwu had disagreed with Amaechi who claimed the newly established Maritime University was valued at N13billion which he claimed was an impediment, stating that it the amount did not matter and all effort should be made to pursue the implementation of major projects in the Niger-Delta region.

He also differed with Amaechi on how best to handle the threat of the Niger-Delta Avengers, pushing for dialogue instead of Amaechi’s threat of force. This was another example where Buhari’s officials felt free to publicly disagree with each other without any sense of fear over the implication of the image of the government or the impact on the president’s brand, another proof, some argued, of brazen confidence born of discovery of the laidback, non-intervening posture of their leader.

The Magu-DSS affair
In March 2017, President Buhari’s nominee to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a substantive basis, Ibrahim Magu, found himself in a quagmire resulting from an indicting report sent by the Department of State Services (DSS) led by Mamman Daura to the Senate. That report was to be the stated basis for Magu’s eventual rejection.

Many were shocked that the DSS could send such a report without the president awareness or intervention. Some also wondered whether it was even possible for the president to make such a high-profile appointment with due recourse to security clearance.

Magu had to respond to the allegations made in the report publicly, a move that may perhaps have, by benefit of hindsight, reflected the president’s strategy in such situations as brought to the fore by the NNPC’s recent revelation of Buhari’s instruction to it to respond to Kachikwu publicly.

This particular case was thoroughly embarrassing. It prompted endless debates about the president’s lack of control over the units of his government which many argued was a recipe for chaos. Powerful actors within his administration, many contended, had sensed the president’s detached and aloof approach, and were exploiting that to their selfish ends.

The Malami-Magu spat

This was not the only such public spat Magu would have. He was yet again involved in a public disagreement with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over sharing of high-profile corruption case files and other matters.

As supervising minister, the AGF had sent repeated requests to Magu to share the files in question to which he maintained defiance. Magu was criticized in public by Malami and he fired back. It was a messy and needless fight, many argued.

But it pointed to the now full-blown disregard for the president’s image or the sanity of his government by his officials, owing to his disengagement. His distance had created a stubborn audacity that made supposed parts of a coordinated machine act like independent power blocs scrambling for territory.

The Minister of Health and a recalcitrant NHIS boss

Another case still not fully resolved, is the clash between the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, and the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Yusuf Usman, over allegations of nepotism and fraud.

Many were alarmed when Yusuf challenged the minister, stating that he had no such powers to suspend him, and declaring his suspension a nullity, before levelling several allegations of his own against the minister. It was a clear case of textbook of insubordination in full glare. Many frowned at the public clash between both officials and saw it as yet another proof of the manifestation of loosely governed system created by Buhari.

Sagay, a loose cannon?
It will be hard to pass up the opportunity of mentioning the President Buhari-appointed Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Itse Sagay. Hardly anyone has been spared from his ceaseless lacerating criticisms. He has attacked judges, lawyers, legislators, the opposition, social media users, agitators, and now, the president’s own party— All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sagay is seen as a loose cannon by many. Observers wonder why the president had so far not seen the need to call him to order especially because his public comments have had some damaging effect on the Buhari administration, the ruling party, and efforts towards building strong executive-legislative relationship. But Buhari has remained true to his deeply ingrained leadership style, one that keeps him soundly asleep while chaos rips his surroundings apart.

A detached Buhari in a bubble surrounded by chaos
It is not only in matters involving officials of his government that Buhari has been detached. This has also been evident in political matters as well. As crisis rocked his party in the legislature and between party leaders, the president failed to bring the overbearing influence of his office to bear in resolving the issues. He allowed the conflicts to degenerate, leading to deep fractures within his party. Some party members and outside observers were saddened by the president’s posture, laying the blame of the escalating crisis squarely at his feet.

Another dimension to this rather tone-deaf approach to administration by Buhari is his failure to respond with the swiftness and urgency expected of him by the public on several important matters of national importance. His delay in appointing ministers in 2015 or even seeking an interim response to the rising economic challenge like setting up an emergency committee of economic advisers despite public outcry, remains a major example in this regard.

More recently, Buhari’s continued delay in attending to the investigative report of the Osinbajo-led panel on corruption allegations involving suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, and suspend Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke, is another example.

Nigeria is a country in desperate need of development. She can ill afford a president that appears comfortably stuck in his own world, ignoring urgent calls and pleas from the desperate public, rightly impatient, as well as the pressing demands of a country severely broken from successive years of leadership failure.

 

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