Although it was tagged ‘low-key’, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, took the oath of office in a brief ceremony full of pomp and pageantry. Security at the venue and around the Federal Capital City was beefed up. Men of the strike force unit of Nigerian Army in balaclavas took positions atop major high-rise buildings around the venue. Police dogs and anti-bomb trucks manned strategic locations to ensure there was no breach.
However, there was a mild drama when APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole breached protocol and stood in a line between the CJN and defence chiefs, and had to be called to order by the Guards Brigade Commander, Umar Musa, who in no nonsense terms told the APC scribe that where he had decided to stand was way above his pay grade and he must vacate immediately. Despite his belated protestations, Oshiomhole was ordered to leave the VIP position, failure to which he would have been booted out manu militari by security agents.
The inauguration proper began when the president arrived Eagle Square accompanied by his wife, Aisha. He went straight to the dais for the national anthem, marking the commencement of the ceremony, before retiring to his seat in the VIP cubicle. The vice president alongside his wife, Dolapo, and other senior government officials including House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, Senate President Bukola Saraki were already seated before Buhari’s arrival.
Osinbajo, who arrived at the venue earlier, also mounted the dais for the national anthem, which was played halfway. He however gets the full anthem whenever he represents the commander-in-chief.
Few minutes after the playing of the national anthem, the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed was invited to the dais where he administered the oath of office and allegiance firstly on Osinbajo. Buhari took his turn next. Thereafter, they both signed the oaths register flanked by their spouses.
The president then witnessed the solemn lowering and hoisting of the national and defence flags by officers of the Nigerian Army, signifying the end of an administration and the beginning of another.
This was followed immediately by a 21-gun salute by troops of the Guards Brigade upon which the president was driven in a roofless Mercedes Benz van to inspect a parade by officers of the armed forces.
Residents of the capital city will not forget in a hurry the pains that attended the inauguration. Heavily armed soldiers deployed at different parts of the city subjected commuters to rigorous security checks, resulting in traffic gridlocks that lasted hours.
The public disgrace of Oshiomhole at the presidential inaugural comes amid a growing chorus of dissenting voices calling for Oshiomhole’s resignation as APC national chairman. Adebayo Shittu, immediate past Minister of Communications, added his voice to the calls for resignation, saying the APC may go into extinction after Buhari’s second term if Oshiomhole remains national chairman.
Shittu said yesterday in Abuja, while reacting to a six page letter written by APC Deputy National Chairman, Sen. Lawal Shuaibu to Oshiomhole, calling for his resignation. Shuaibu had in the letter on Tuesday, called on Oshiomhole to resign for allegedly failing to add value to the APC since his election as its national chairman. He accused Oshiomhole of incompetence, high handedness and immaturity in his handling party affairs. According to Shuaibu, Oshiomhole lacked the capacity and necessary composure to lead the party.
He noted that the respect and sympathy the APC used to enjoy among its members and sympathizers before Oshiomhole emerged as its Chairman had been eroded. “I endorse Oshiomhole’s resignation; the truth is that with Oshiomhole, this party will go down by the time President Muhammadu Buhari finishes his second term in office. Oshiomhole is full of himself and he has an ego problem and wants to dominate every environment, and democracy is not like that,”Shittu said.
He added that most of the party’s chieftains who thought of its future, continuity and relevance after the president’s second term in office, did not want Oshiomhole to remain as the party’s chairman. He stressed that because such party chieftains were concerned about the party’s future, they would do everything possible to ensure that Oshiomhole resigned.
It should be recalled that the former minister was disqualified by the Oshiomhole-led APC National Working Committee (NWC) to contest the party’s governorship ticket in Oyo State. The APC National Legal Adviser, Babatunde Ogala, had earlier accused Oshiomhole of usurping his functions as the party’s Legal Adviser.
