President Muhammadu Buhari has again blamed the delay in the take-off
of his administration, particularly the constitution of his cabinet, on
the Goodluck Jonathan- led administration’s failure to put in place an
institutionalised system of transition from one administration to the
other.
He said that the lack of a clear transition formula was compounded by the unpreparedness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to relinquish the powers it had held for 16 consecutive years.
The president expressed this view in Abuja yesterday at a workshop organised by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) with the theme “Strengthening Nigeria’s Transition Frameworks for Democratic Consolidation.” Buhari represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the then ruling party was completely caught unawares by the outcome of the 2015 election and did not know what to do when it became obvious that they had to leave the stage.
“For the government led by a ruling party that had vowed to stay in power for 60 years in the first instance, they were not prepared for any transition that will not be from themselves to themselves. How can they, when they felt invincible, judging by their perceived strength and assumed popularity and the huge resources at their disposal?
Because they were not mentally prepared for the outcome of that election, they were unable to put in place structures that will make the transition seamless,” Buhari said.
According to him, the situation almost marred the transition process, but for the ingenuity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which had to set up a transition committee to appraise the state of the nation.
He said that whereas the transition committee of the APC had hoped that the outgoing government’s team will sit down with it to ensure an orderly handover of notes, exchange of views and clarifications, the PDP government shunned this approach and released its handover notes four days to the end of its tenure.
Buhari said: “We expected comprehensive report on the state of the economy, the security situation, infrastructure development or deficit and social issues, among others, in an atmosphere devoid of bitterness, confrontation and conflict. “What we got was the exact opposite of what we expected. The team put in place by the outgoing government did not for once sit down with our own transition committee to discuss the nitty-gritty of what we were inheriting.
The incoming government was completely left in the dark, and only got the handover notes four days to the handover date. “The result was that the 19-member transition committee, led by Alhaji Ahmed Joda, had to turn itself into a resource group by dividing itself into five groups covering Finance and Economy, Security, Social Issues, Good Governance and Foreign Affairs. The committee then invited experts and resource persons to make presentations to it on the various issues.
It was good that the committee took that action because when the outgoing government finally sent in its handover notes, they were not as helpful as they ought to have been.
The notes did not disclose the information that would help the incoming government. “This explains why, upon assuming office, I had to take briefings from ministries, departments and agencies for almost two months, even as I had to attend to other serious issues of governance.
The inadequacy of the handover notes contributed in no small measure to the delay in constituting my cabinet, as I needed to have a clear idea of what my administration was inheriting. Had a system been in place, real-time information would have been available to assist the incoming government to quickly settle down, form its cabinet and go about the business of governance.”
Buhari urged every democrat to imbibe the culture of true democracy and appreciate the power of the people in determining whether or not they remain in power.
He warned against the negative culture where incumbents become arrogant and begin to look beyond their lawful mandate, thereby personalising and politicising the system. The president stated that it had become imperative to put in place an institutionalised system that would guarantee a seamless transition of power in the future.
This, according to him, will reduce the kind of tension and anxiety that attended the last transition, and set the tone for a predictable and orderly transfer of power.
He said that the lack of a clear transition formula was compounded by the unpreparedness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to relinquish the powers it had held for 16 consecutive years.
The president expressed this view in Abuja yesterday at a workshop organised by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) with the theme “Strengthening Nigeria’s Transition Frameworks for Democratic Consolidation.” Buhari represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the then ruling party was completely caught unawares by the outcome of the 2015 election and did not know what to do when it became obvious that they had to leave the stage.
“For the government led by a ruling party that had vowed to stay in power for 60 years in the first instance, they were not prepared for any transition that will not be from themselves to themselves. How can they, when they felt invincible, judging by their perceived strength and assumed popularity and the huge resources at their disposal?
Because they were not mentally prepared for the outcome of that election, they were unable to put in place structures that will make the transition seamless,” Buhari said.
According to him, the situation almost marred the transition process, but for the ingenuity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which had to set up a transition committee to appraise the state of the nation.
He said that whereas the transition committee of the APC had hoped that the outgoing government’s team will sit down with it to ensure an orderly handover of notes, exchange of views and clarifications, the PDP government shunned this approach and released its handover notes four days to the end of its tenure.
Buhari said: “We expected comprehensive report on the state of the economy, the security situation, infrastructure development or deficit and social issues, among others, in an atmosphere devoid of bitterness, confrontation and conflict. “What we got was the exact opposite of what we expected. The team put in place by the outgoing government did not for once sit down with our own transition committee to discuss the nitty-gritty of what we were inheriting.
The incoming government was completely left in the dark, and only got the handover notes four days to the handover date. “The result was that the 19-member transition committee, led by Alhaji Ahmed Joda, had to turn itself into a resource group by dividing itself into five groups covering Finance and Economy, Security, Social Issues, Good Governance and Foreign Affairs. The committee then invited experts and resource persons to make presentations to it on the various issues.
It was good that the committee took that action because when the outgoing government finally sent in its handover notes, they were not as helpful as they ought to have been.
The notes did not disclose the information that would help the incoming government. “This explains why, upon assuming office, I had to take briefings from ministries, departments and agencies for almost two months, even as I had to attend to other serious issues of governance.
The inadequacy of the handover notes contributed in no small measure to the delay in constituting my cabinet, as I needed to have a clear idea of what my administration was inheriting. Had a system been in place, real-time information would have been available to assist the incoming government to quickly settle down, form its cabinet and go about the business of governance.”
Buhari urged every democrat to imbibe the culture of true democracy and appreciate the power of the people in determining whether or not they remain in power.
He warned against the negative culture where incumbents become arrogant and begin to look beyond their lawful mandate, thereby personalising and politicising the system. The president stated that it had become imperative to put in place an institutionalised system that would guarantee a seamless transition of power in the future.
This, according to him, will reduce the kind of tension and anxiety that attended the last transition, and set the tone for a predictable and orderly transfer of power.
0 comments:
Post a Comment