By Raymond Nkannebe

A dark cloud hung in the firmament as president Muhammadu Buhari took his second oath of office yesterday as the 5th democratically elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While it was a day of jubilation in the camp of the ruling APC despite the ugly events of Zamfara couple of days ago, it was a sharp contrast in the camp of the main opposition party who continues to maintain that the mandate of their Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was stolen in an election that can only be qualified by one word : controversy. It is on record that president Muhammadu Buhari has been dragged to the tribunal by the PDP and it’s candidate Atiku Abubakar contending that his victory was a contrived one, and asking to be declared the winner of the election. Little wonder why as the low-key event at the Eagle Square went on, #AtikuDeyCome and #StolenMandate trended on the microblogging platform-Twitter. Some persons even argued that the reason for the low-keyed celebration yesterday was the uncertainty of how long the victory would last especially in the face of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Zamfara. The presidency however has a different explanation for the rather unusual occasion highlighted by the non-reading of the traditional inaugural address.

On a day that usually boasts the presence of many former leaders of the Country and dignitaries from outside our shores, yesterday’s event was a radical break from the

past. As the ceremony took it’s tool, only one former head of state was visible-Alhaji Yakubu Gowon; a presence that put in sharp focus the abscence of his counterparts. Former presidents Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan perhaps would rather attend to other engagements than play guest to a president whose victory is touted to have been on a dirty electoral slate than confer legitimacy on the process with their presence. For the presidency however, the abscence of these men may not completely be surprising having hot hidden their support for the opposition party in the build up to the last general elections. The jury however is still out on whether the loud abscence of some of these former leaders accords with their lofty position as statesmen.

Arguably no one understands the concept of “stolen mandate” more than president Muhammadu Buhari. All through his attempt at becoming a democratically elected president, it is on record that he challenged each of those elections in court all of which culminated at the Supreme Court in a hurting defeat leaving behind a large body of adjectival jurisprudence on electoral disputes. He therefore appreciates Atiku’s position having shared his ‘shoes’ more than once. Yet, the recently scandalised presidential election Petitions tribunal at the instance of the petitioners, remains without a chairman, and until it gets one, cannot effectively adjudicate on the extent to which Atiku Abubakar’s mandate was stolen as widely believed by his support base. Part of that process would also be to find out whether President Muhammadu Buhari won a popular victory in substantial compliance with the current state of our electoral laws as the supreme court remains of the considered sentiments that no election is a perfection.

Pending when all that is done and the realities to be brought about by it, president Muhammadu Buhari stands on the better side of fortune having being administered with the 2nd instructive oath of office that earns him a second bite at the cherry. It is a rare privilege that must not be taken for granted by the septuagenerian, his first term having not been completely a success in the socio-economic details of governance.

As many analysts have observed, his second term in office affords him the latitude and the benefit of hindsight to right some, if not all the wrongs of his first term under the saddle. There is a consensus in town that this president’s respect for the Rule of Law, has been anything but complimentary given his body lexis to certain judicial pronouncements as appertains to the civil liberties of some senior citizens who could just pass for prisoners of conscience on account of the peculiarities of their prolonged incarceration. To underscore the importance of this, the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)-a leading voice of the Civil Society instructively admonishes that every single day of Buhari’s second term should be expended in the observance of the Rule of Law. This writer cannot agree less.

Beyond the Rule of Law, President Muhammadu Buhari owes it as a duty to Nigerians to better their socio-economic wellbeing as far as practicable. Under his watch in the first term, The Brookings Institution rated Nigeria as the country with the poorest citizens instructively observing that for every 6 minutes that passes, at least one Nigerian falls into extreme poverty. This economic reality leaves a sour taste in the mouth. And by all means, adequate remedial measures must be taken to lift as many people as possible out of poverty. And it does not take rocket science to do that having been experimented in many countries around the world. Buhari’s new economic team must therefore not compromise on this task. Happily, ours is not a nation in short supply of capable hands and egg heads, and all efforts must be made to narrow political considerations in search of a team with the wherewithal to turn around this economy for the greatest good of the greatest number. If more and more Nigerians can put food on their table, president Buhari would have delivered on a core mandate of governance: food security.

In the sundry areas of security, infrastructure, the fight against corruption, education, labour relations, healthcare inter alia, president Muhammadu Buhari cannot afford not to consolidate on the string of gains made here and there under his first term. In the look out for his new retinue of ministers which must not take forever, the right heads must be hunted to bring to bear their wealth of experience in the general service to motherland. Decrepit and deficit infrastructure remains an albatross on our journey to economic boom, and everything must be done to upend it’s current slate. The same attitude must also be extended to other areas where we continue to play catch-up.

Having said that, it is in bad taste that the election that affords this second term remains a litigious warfare. And not just that, a staggering 736 election Petitions remain in docket of the judiciary in virtually all parts of the country. This leaves behind an ugly impression for our electoral process and effectively puts electoral reforms in issue. Analysts are agreed that the failure to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill was precipitous of the charade that was the 2019 general elections. A sentiment that lays the blame at the feet of the president rightly or wrongly.

As a matter of urgency therefore, president Muhammadu Buhari must make it a cardinal plank of his second term in office to enhance our electoral process which few days ago was bemoaned by the chairman of the electoral commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu. A veritable way out is the enthronement of the modalities of electronic voting and legislative sanctioning of same atleast before the next general elections. President Muhammadu Buhari is himself a victim of our sloppy electoral system, and must rise to the occasion in rewriting the story. Seeing that our democracy would not be captured in refreshing adjectives with our periodic elections almost always the subject of impossible litigations.

Having declared a fortnight ago that Nigeria must restructure to make any meaningful progress, even if in what could compete for the greatest turn-about of the century given his earlier posturing to the restructuring debate, President Muhammadu Buhari has the rare opportunity of restructuring Nigeria along fiscal lines so as to unbundle the unwieldy and behemoth unitary system mistaken for a federalism. A sure way to do that is to look back at the report of the well regarded 2014 CONFAB which pundits believe has addressed all the salient issues that often rear their heads whenever the restructuring question comes up. Sending that report to the 9th National Assembly might just be the boldest effort at restructuring.

All things considered, the general circumstances of his life, leaves the irresistible conclusion that president Muhammadu Buhari is a friend of history. It was British professor Dave Wilson that said, “sometimes life gives you a second chance. Or even two! Not always, but sometimes! It’s what you do with those second chances that counts”.

This much, represents the political trajectory of this president. His first coming was as a military dictator some 36 years ago, long before this writer was born. Providence ushered him again onto the scene four years ago as the 4th democratically elected president of Nigeria. Here he is again, looking set to join the lean tribe of Nigerians who ruled the country for at least a decade and suffice it to say that he has all the opportunity in the whole wide world to become one of Nigeria’s greatest presidents. Pending the outcome of the Petition against him, he must be alive to Dave Wilson’s admonitions that it is what we do with the second chance life throws at us, that counts.

Raymond Nkannebe is a legal practitioner based in Lagos.