Why president jonathan concedes defeat and congratulated gen Buhari

Jonathan concedes defeat, congratulates BuhariMarch 31, 2015

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As Nigerians and the international community continue to praise President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat to his main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, in the March 28 presidential election, PREMIUM TIMES has received exclusive details of how the president took the decision of making the historic concession telephone call to Mr. Buhari.
Reliable officials, knowledgeable about the drama that unfolded at the presidential villa that March 31, said Mr. Jonathan was pulled by two contending forces: loyalists who kept pressuring him to concede defeat and congratulate Mr. Buhari, and hawks who insisted he and his party should strongly challenge the APC candidate’s victory.
Our sources said even before collation began at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja, Mr. Jonathan had indicated he would accept whatever outcome once the election is considered free and fair.
But while the President was on the verge of keeping that promise, some “hawks” in the presidency and the party rushed to the first family’s official residence to warn him against any “hasty decision”.
“They were telling the president that a lot of options were still open, and that the game was not over,” one of our sources said. “They were doing all manners of analyses, and assuring the president that ultimately, he would triumph.”
“At a point the president became confused and it was clear the forces opposed to the president’s decision to concede victory was gaining control. As some of them were talking to the president in the villa, others who were far away were calling the President on telephone. The president was in a dilemma.”
Another presidential aide said while in that state of confusion, the President invited the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, to ask his opinion.
Those who overheard the conversation between the two men said Mr. Chidoka begged the president to disregard any contrary counsel and quickly concede defeat.
“Mr. President, I can tell you that by congratulating Buhari, you would have done the unthinkable and history will surely be kind to you,” a presidential aide quoted the aviation minister as saying.
Our sources said as the President and Mr. Chidoka conversed, the Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, arrived.
“He quickly joined Osita (the aviation minister) in appealing to the President to ignore those advising him not to concede defeat,” a witness said. “In fact, I saw Adoke and Osita kneeling before the president in deference and begging him to take the right decision in the interest of the country.”
Our sources said at this point, Mr. Jonathan appeared convinced. But more calls came in from people believed to be opposed to any concession move, and the president became confused again.
At that point, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, arrived, and she quickly joined the party working to convince Mr. Jonathan to make the historic call.
While Mr. Adoke departed shortly after Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s arrival, the finance minister and her aviation counterpart continued to appeal to the President to make the right decision.
At a point, the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, joined the party.
He reportedly knelt before the president, held his hand, and said, “You need to congratulate Buhari now sir. I think you should leave this place on May 29 holding your head high.”
Mr. Dudafa then offered to place a call to Mr. Buhari so the President could speak with him. Mr. Jonathan agreed.
So at about 5:15 p.m. that March 31, Mr. Jonathan spoke to Mr. Buhari, congratulating him for his victory in the presidential election.
At 5:27 p.m., Mr. Chidoka, while still at the presidential villa, tweeted, “President Jonathan congratulates Gen. Buhari in a phone call this evening.”
He further tweeted, “President Jonathan will address the nation after a meeting with PDP officials.
“President Jonathan is a democrat by instinct, he has expanded the civic space and entrenched genuine democracy. A great future awaits him as sets a continental example on the essence of democracy.
“President Jonathan, by refusing to be an African Big Man, has indeed become an African role model. Soon when emotions subside, the story of Pres. Jonathan’s stubborn commitment to democracy and peace will be told.”
When contacted Monday, Mr. Chidoka said he was not prepared to discuss what transpired at the president’s residence on the day of the historic concession call.
Mrs. Okonjo Iweala could not be reached for comments. Calls to her spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu, did not connect.
With presidential election results from all but one of Nigeria’s 36 states counted, and Mr. Buhari, clearly in unassailable lead, President Jonathan had telephoned the APC candidate to concede defeat.
At the time the call was made, INEC was yet to declare Mr. Buhari winner because it was still expecting results from Nigeria’s remote Borno State.
By the time the Borno vote was added to the tally, Mr. Buhari garnered 15,416,221 votes to Mr. Jonathan’s 12,853, 162 votes.
The historic concession telephone call defused tension across Nigeria and has thrown up Mr. Jonathan as a democracy hero.
That conversation is believed to have saved Nigeria from descending into violence in the aftermath of the election.
In a nationwide broadcast after INEC officially declared Mr. Buhari winner, President Jonathan told Nigerians he kept his pledge to deliver a credible election.

For this president jonathan has written his name in Gold, The only nigerian sitting president to concede defeat to the opposition.

BUHARIES PROFILE PART 2

Foreign policy

Buhari's military government continued largely with the foreign policy it inherited from Shehu Shagari. In January 1984, in his new year broadcast speech, Buhari stated that he would maintain and enhance diplomatic relations with all countries and international organisations such as the OAU, UN, OPEC, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth of Nations. He also stated that he would honor all treaty obligations entered into by previous governments, which he did.
Buhari's foreign policy also focused on Africa, mostly Nigeria's neighbors due to financial commitments.^[27]

53 suitcases saga

Buhari's administration was embroiled in a scandal concerning the fate of 53 suitcases, allegedly containing $700 million in Nigerian naira (which, at the time, was not allowed to leave the country due to inflation control efforts).^[28] The suitcases were being transported by the Emir of Gwandu, whose son was Buhari's aide-de-camp, and were cleared through customs on June 10, 1984 without inspection during his return flight from Saudi Arabia. ^[29] Buhari claims this was carried out without his knowledge by Atiku Abubakar.

Human rights

According to Decree Number 2 of 1984, the state security and the chief of staff were given the power to detain, without charges, individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months.^[30] Strikes and popular demonstrations were banned and Nigeria’s secret police service, the National Security Organization (NSO) was entrusted with unprecedented powers. The NSO played a wide role in the cracking down of public dissent by intimidating, harassing and jailing individuals who broke the interdiction on strikes. By October 1984, about 200,000 civil servants were retrenched.^[31]
Critics of the regime were also thrown in jail, as was the case of Nigeria’s most popular artist and one time presidential contender, afro-beat singer Fela Kuti.^[32] He was arrested on September 4, 1984 at the airport as he was about to embark on an American tour. Amnesty International described the charges brought against him for illegally exporting foreign currency as “spurious.” Using the wide powers bestowed upon it by Decree Number 2, the government sentenced Fela to 5 years in prison. He was released after 18 months,^[32] when the Buhari government was toppled in a coup d’etat.
In 1984, Buhari passed Decree Number 4, the Protection Against False Accusations Decree,^[33] considered by scholars as the most repressive press law ever enacted in Nigeria.^[34] Section 1 of the law provided that “Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement […] which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a state or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offense under this Decree”.^[35] The law further stated that offending journalists and publishers will be tried by an open military tribunal, whose ruling would be final and unappealable in any court and those found guilty would be eligible for a fine not less than 10,000 naira and a jail sentence of up to two years. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian were among the journalists who were tried under the decree.^[34]
Decree 20 on illegal ship bunkering and drug trafficking was another example of Buhari’s tough approach to crime.^[36] Section 3 (2) (K) provided that “any person who, without lawful authority deals in, sells, smokes or inhales the drug known as cocaine or other similar drugs, shall be guilty under section 6 (3) (K) of an offence and liable on conviction to suffer death sentence by firing squad.” In the case of Bernard Ogedengebe, the Decree was applied retroactively.^[37] He was executed even if at the time of his arrest the crime did not mandate the capital punishment, but had carried a sentence of six months imprisonment.^[37]
In another prominent case of April 1985, six Nigerians were condemned to death under the same decree: Sidikatu Tairi, Sola Oguntayo, Oladele Omosebi, Lasunkanmi Awolola, Jimi Adebayo and Gladys Iyamah.^[38]
In 1985, prompted by economic uncertainties and a rising crime rate, the government of Buhari opened the borders (closed since April 1984) with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon to speed up the expulsion of 700,000 illegal foreigners and illegal migrant workers.^[39] Buhari is today known for this crises; there even is a famine in the east of Niger that have been named "El Buhari".^[40]
One of the most enduring legacies of the Buhari government has been the War Against Indiscipline (WAI). Launched on March 20, 1984, the policy tried to address the perceived lack of public morality and civic responsibility of Nigerian society. Unruly Nigerians were ordered to form neat queues at bus stops, under the eyes of whip-wielding soldiers. Civil servants^[41] who failed to show up on time at work were humiliated and forced to do “frog jumps”. Minor offences carried long sentences. Any student over the age of 17 caught cheating on an exam would get 21 years in prison. Counterfeiting and arson could lead to the death penalty.^[42]
His regime drew the critics of many, including Nigeria’s first Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, who, in 2007, wrote a piece called “The Crimes of Buhari”^[43] which outlined many of the abuses conducted under his military rule.
The Umaru Dikko Affair was another defining moment in Buhari’s military government. Umaru Dikko, a former Minister of Transportation under the previous civilian administration of President Shagari who fled the country shortly after the coup, was accused of embezzling $1 billion in oil profits. With the help of the Mossad, the NSO traced him to London where operatives from Nigeria and Israel drugged and kidnapped him. They placed him in a plastic bag, which was subsequently hidden inside a crate labelled as “Diplomatic Baggage”. The purpose of this secret operation was to ship Dikko off to Nigeria on an empty Nigerian Airways Boeing 707, to stand trial for embezzlement. The plot was foiled by British airport officers.^[44]
Buhari mounted an offensive against entrenched interests. In 20 months as Head of State, about 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed for corruption during his stewardship.^[24][45]
Buhari responded to his human rights criticism, by saying that if elected in the general election due to take place now on 28 March 2015, he will follow the rule of law, there will be access to justice for all Nigerians and respect for fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI PROFILE PART 1

Early life and career

Muhammadu Buhari was born on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to his father Adamu and his mother Zulaihat. He is the twenty-third child of his father. Buhari was raised by his mother, after his father died when he was about three or four years of age.^[10]
Buhari joined the Nigerian Army in 1961, when he attended the Nigerian Military Training College (in February 1964, it was renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy) in Kaduna. From 1962 to 1963, he underwent officer cadets training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England.
In January 1963, Buhari was commissioned as second lieutenant, and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria. From November 1963 to January 1964, Buhari attended the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna. In 1964, he facilitated his military training by attending the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.
From 1965 to 1967, Buhari served as Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion. He was appointed Brigade Major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967.
Buhari was made Brigade Major of the Third Infantry Brigade, July 1967 to October 1968 and Brigade Major/Commandant, Thirty-first Infantry Brigade, 1970 to 1971.
Buhari served as the Assistant Adjutant-General, First Infantry Division Headquarters, from 1971 to 1972. He also attended the Defense Services Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973.
From 1974 to 1975 Buhari was Acting Director of Transport and Supply at the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters.^[11]
He was also Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters from 1978 to 1979 and was a member of the Supreme Military Council from 1978 to 1979.
From 1979 to 1980, at the rank of colonel, Buhari (class of 1980) attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies.^[12][13] Upon completion of the on-campus full-time resident program lasting ten months and the two-year-long, distance learning program, the United States Army War College (USAWC) college awards its graduate officers a master's degree in Strategic Studies.
Other roles include:

• General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, Aug. 1980 – Jan. 1981
• General Officer Commanding, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division, Jan. 1981 – October 1981
• General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armed Division Nigerian Army, October 1981 – December 1983

Northern counter-coup of 28 July 1966

In July 1966 Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari was one of the participants in a coup led by Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed that overthrew and assassinated Nigeria's first self-appointed military Head of State General Aguiyi Ironsi who had assumed leadership of the Nigerian government after a failed coup attempt on 15 January 1966, which overthrew the elected parliamentary system of government of independent Nigeria (also known as first republic). Ironsi's assumption of Nigeria's leadership was technically another coup following the January 1966 coup. Other participants in the coup on 28 July 1966 included 2nd Lieutenant Sani Abacha, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida, Major Theophilus Danjuma, Lieutenant Ibrahim Bako among others. The coup was a reaction to the January coup where a group of mostly Igbo led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Many Northern soldiers were aggrieved by the murder of senior politicians, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, northern regional premier, Ahmadu Bello, and four senior officers, Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, Colonel Kur Mohammed, Lt-Cols Abogo Largema and James Pam.^[14] The counter-coup was very bloody leading to the murder of mostly Igbo officers. Among the casualties were the first military head of state General Aguiyi Ironsi and Lt Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the military governor of the Western Region.

Governor of North Eastern State

In August 1975, after General Murtala Mohammed took power that year, he appointed Buhari as Governor of the North-Eastern State, to oversee social, economic and political improvements in the state.
In February 1976, the North Eastern state was divided by the Military Government into Bauchi, Borno and Gongola states. In August 1991, Yobe state was created from Borno state, while Gongola state was split into two states, Taraba and Adamawa. In October 1996, Gombe State was created from Bauchi State.

Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources

In March 1976, the Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed Buhari as the Federal Commissioner (position now called Minister) for Petroleum and Natural Resources. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was created in 1976, Buhari was also appointed as its Chairman, a position he held until 1978. During his tenure as Commissioner, 2.8 billion Naira allegedly went missing from the accounts of the NNPC in Midlands Bank in the United Kingdom. Former President Ibrahim Babangida allegedly accused Buhari of being responsible for this fraud.^[15][16][17]
However, according to the Modalities for Coordinating Nigeria's Anti-Corruption Strategies, Constructive Engagement Vol. 1 No. 1 (2009), in 1983, Shagari administration inaugurated the Crude Oil Sales Tribunal of Inquiry, headed by Justice Ayo Irikefe, to investigate allegations of N2.8 billion misappropriation from the NNPC account. The tribunal however found no truth in the allegations even though it noticed some lapses in the NNPC accounts.

1983 Chadian military affair

In 1983, when Chadian forces invaded Nigeria in the Borno State, Buhari used the forces under his command to chase them out of the country, crossing into Chadian territory in spite of an order given by President Shagari to withdraw.^[18] This 1983 Chadian military affair led to more than 100 victims and "prisoners of war".^[18]

December 1983 military coup

Main article: Military coups in Nigeria

Major-General Buhari was one of the leaders of the military coup of December 1983 that overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari. At the time of the coup plot, Buhari was the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armored Division of Jos.^[19] With the successful execution of the coup General Tunde Idiagbon, Buhari was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). The coup ended Nigeria's short-lived Second Republic, a period of multiparty democracy started in 1979. According to The New York Times, the officers who took power argued that "a flawed democracy was worse than no democracy at all". Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt and promptly suspended Nigeria’s 1979 Constitution.
Muhammadu Buhari has denied his role in the December 1983 coup; however, the example of Major Bamidele betrays Buhari's complicity in the December 1983 coup. Nigerian military historians Max Siollun and Nowa Omoigui note that when Major Bamidele got wind of the coup to oust Shagari, Bamidele reported the issue up the chain of command to his GOC 3rd Armored Division (Major General Buhari) who was allegedly in on the plot. To prevent Bamidele from leaking the plot, Buhari ordered the arrest and detention of Bamidele for 2 weeks. Bamidele wasn't released until the successful execution of the coup. Learning from this unfortunate experience, Bamidele didn't report any rumors of the so-called Vatsa coup (between 1985 and 1986) and was executed for it.^[20] Bamidele's words to the Special Military Tribunal that tried and convicted him are:^[21]

"I heard of the 1983 coup planning, told my GOC General Buhari who detained me for two weeks in Lagos. Instead of a pat on the back, I received a stab. How then do you expect me to report this one? This trial marks the eclipse of my brilliant and unblemished career of 19 years. I fought in the civil war with the ability it pleased God to give me. It is unfortunate that I'm being convicted for something which I have had to stop on two occasions. This is not self adulation but a sincere summary of the qualities inherent in me. It is an irony of fate that the president of the tribunal who in 1964 felt that I was good enough to take training in the UK is now saddled with the duty of showing me the exit from the force and the world."^[21]

Major General Buhari's Supreme Military Council (SMC) observed a minute of silence for the slain Brigadier Bako during the SMC's first meeting, saying Bako has been shot and killed when his troop arrested Shagari in Abuja.^[22]

Head of state (1983–85)

Economic policy

In order to reform the economy, as Head of State, Buhari started to rebuild the nation's social-political and economic systems, along the realities of Nigeria's austere economic conditions.^[23] The rebuilding included removing or cutting back the excesses in national expenditure, obliterating or removing completely corruption from the nation's social ethics, shifting from mainly public sector employment to self-employment. Buhari also encouraged import substitution industrialisation based to a great extent on the use of local materials and he tightened importation.^[23]
However, Buhari's bid to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses.^[24]
Buhari broke ties with the International Monetary Fund, when the fund asked the government to devalue the naira by 60%. However, the reforms that Buhari instigated on his own were as or more rigorous as those required by the IMF.^[25] · ^[26]
On 7 May 1984, Buhari announced the country's 1984 National Budget. The budget came with a series of complementary measures:

• A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers
• Raising of Interest rates
• Halting Capital Projects
• Prohibition of borrowing by State governments
• 15 percent cut from Shagari's 1983 Budget
• Realignment of import duties
• Reducing the balance of payment deficit by cutting imports
• It also gave priority to the importation of raw materials and spare parts that were needed for agriculture and industry.

Other economic measures by Buhari took the form of counter trade, currency change, price reduction of goods and services.