BUHARI, Muhammadu GCFR

Retired soldier, former military Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Muhammadu Buhari is viewed as honest and straightforward, a novelty in the Nigerian political landscape. His support is based on this reputation, a support which limits his ability to make political compromises. Although he lost three elections, in 2003, 2007 and 2011, amid allegations of widespread irregularities, Buhari was still very popular with the grassroots especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. While his campaigns remained below the radar screen and he was hampered by the lack of access to the billions of Naira that classical analysts saw as the lubricant for Nigerian elections, he enjoyed something that few other Nigerians enjoy: genuine spontaneous grassroots support. In August 1975, after General Murtala Mohammed took power, he appointed Buhari as Governor of the North-Eastern State, to oversee social, economic and political improvements in the state. In March 1976, the then 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. The Nigerian Second Republic lasted from 1979 to 1983 under civilian president Shehu Shagari. The weak political coalition government, the end of the oil boom, the strain of recession, and fraud in the 1983 elections caused the army to step in again at the end of December 1983. Major-General Buhari and Major-General Tunde Idiagbon were selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d'etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December. Buhari tried to restore public accountability and to reestablish a dynamic economy without altering the basic power structure of the country. The military had become impatient with the civilian government. Corruption in particular was out of control, and the fraudulent election had been too obvious. Because the civilians in the NPN could not control the situation, the military would try its hand. The military tried to achieve two aims. First, it attempted to secure public support by reducing the level of corruption; second, it demonstrated its commitment to austerity by trimming the federal budget. As a further attempt to mobilize the country, Buhari launched a War Against Indiscipline in the spring of 1984. This national campaign, which lasted fifteen months, preached the work ethic, emphasized patriotism, decried corruption, and promoted environmental sanitation. His administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI). As part of his "War Against Indiscipline", he ordered Nigerians to form neat queues at bus stops, under the sharp eyes of whip-wielding soldiers. Civil servants who were late for work were publicly humiliated by being forced to do frog jumps. His previous appointments include: Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 1963; Platoon Commander. 2nd Infantry Battalion, Abeokuta, 1963; attended Platoon Commander's Course, Nigeria Military College, Kaduna, 1963-64, Mechanical Transport Officer's Course, Army Mechanical Transport School, Bordon, UK, 1965; Commander, 2nd Battalion, UN Peace-keeping Force, Congo (now Zaire) in the early 60s; appointed Mechanical Transport Officer, Lagos Garrison Transport Company, 1964- 65; Transport Company Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade Transport Company, 1965; Battalion Adjutant, later Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 1965-67; appointed Brigade Major, 2 Sector 1st Infantry Division, 1967; Brigade Major and Commander, 31 Infantry Brigade, 1970-71; assistant Adjutant-Gen- 379 BULA eral, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters, 1971-72; Colonel General Staff (Col. GS), 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters, 1974; acting Director, Transport and Supply, Nigerian Army Corps of Supply andTransport Headquarters, 1974-75; Military Governor, North-Eastern State (old Borno State), 1975- 76; Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Energy, 1976-78; Internal Affairs Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, 1978; Chair man, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, 1978-79: Military Secretary (Army), Headquarters and member, defunct Supreme Military Council, 1978-79; posted General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, Nigerian Army Headquarters, 1979-80; appointed General Officer Commanding, 2nd Mechanised Infantry Division, Nigerian Army Headquarters, Ibadan, 1981; General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armoured Division, Jos, 1981 -83; Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, Nigerian Armed Forces, 1984-85; ousted from power in a military coup in 1985; appointed Chairman, Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, 1996-99; President Buhari has been a Recipient, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, 1992; He was awarded Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic; Recipient, Man of the Year, The Nigeria Road Federation, 1999; He was decorated with the Defence Service Medal, National Service Medal, General Service Medal, Republic Medal, Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal, Forces Service Star, UN Peace-keeping Force (Congo Medal). Driven by a profound sense of patriotism and commitment to national service, General Buhari entered politics in 2003, following Nigeria’s return to a democratic dispensation in 1999. He joined the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and contested the presidential election on its platform that year. He lost to the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Olusegun Obasanjo. Undaunted by defeat, Buhari continued his political struggle, and on December 18th, 2006, he emerged as the consensus presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party for the 2007 elections. His main challenger in the April 2007 presidential polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua. In the election, Buhari officially scored 18 percent of the total votes cast, against 70 percent for Yar’Adua. Buhari rejected the results and in a post-election statement, Yar’Adua affirmed that the polls were indeed less than free, fair and credible. After Yar’Adua assumed office, the ANPP agreed to join his purported government of national unity, but Buhari denounced the agreement. In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP and formed, with some of his supporters, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). General Buhari was nominated as the CPC presidential candidate on April 16th, 2011 for that year’s general election. He ran against the then incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling PDP, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Ibrahim Shekarau of the ANPP, and other candidates of smaller parties. Using the platform of the CPC, a newly formed party without much finance and essential party structures in the states, Buhari was able to garner 12, 214, 853 votes, coming second to Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, who polled 22, 495, 197 votes. On 24 January 2018, former president Obasanjo wrote a letter to president Buhari accusing his government of nepotism, while commending his war against corruption and lauding his achievements on Boko Haram. Obasanjo's letter also included an appeal to president Buhari not to contest re-election in 2019 but to instead "join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom, and outreach can be deployed on the sideline for the good of the country". Shrugging off opposition from a previous president, during a national executive council meeting on the morning of April, 9th 2018, President Buhari declared his intention to re-enter the presidential race in 2019 and seek a second term in office as a democratic leader. This came after much speculation by political players and members of the public about whether or not he was going to run, especially considering his rather late timing. Reactions to his announcement have been mixed, as many observers think this put a question to his integrity. Buhari said during the 2011 presidential campaigns under the CPC banner that he would never seek a re-election bid should he ever become president. On 26 February 2019, Buhari was elected to a second term, defeating People's Democratic Party opponent Atiku Abubakar. INEC issued the certificate of return to President Buhari and Osinbajo on February 27, 2019. On May 29, 2019, President Buhari took his oath of office for the second term. Whilst the country commemorate Democracy Day on May 29, in remembrance of May 29, 1999, when democracy was restored after a long term of military rule; Buhari changed it to June 12 for heroic remembrance of MKO Abiola, who won the June 12, 1993 election was overruled. The maiden commemoration was marked on June 12, 2019. President Buhari hosts the principal officers of the National Assembly to dinner at the state house on Thursday July 11, 2019 -(Researched, from Various Sources)