By Ishaya Ibrahim
Constitutional lawyer, Wale Ogunade has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s role as patron of Miyetti Allah is affecting the way he handles the Fulani herdsmen attacks across the country.
In an interview in Lagos, Ogunade said there is a conflict between Buhari’s office as President and his affinity to his tribesmen, the Fulani, of which he once served as their patron.
“Before his election, Buhari was the patron of Miyetti Allah. When you hold an office and you have an interest, you must relieve yourself of that interest. Buhari I’m sure has not relieved himself as the patron of the Miyetti Allah. Even if he relieved himself, he is a Fulani man. He will see himself first and foremost as a Fulani man before a Nigerian,” he said.
Ogunade, who is also the President of Voters Awareness Initiative (VAI) said the attacks attributed to the herdsmen escalated under Buhari’s watch.
“The problem of the Fulani herdsmen became a serious issue when he became President. What you see Fulani holding before is sanda (stick) not bindiga (gun). But now it is guns. They must not be allowed to carry guns. Buhari should have stopped it before it escalated,” he said.
The lawyer and activist also blamed the President’s advisers for sleeping on the job while the herdsmen run riot in the country.
“His handlers are not tardy. Let’s assume that Buhari’s mind did not go there, that he is thinking as a Fulani man, his handlers should have talked to him to tell him this is not your tribesmen issue. This is a Nigerian issue. Buhari too knows that his rating has dropped,” Ogunade said.
On the President’s declaration to seek re-election, Ogunade said it was within his right.
“Age is not an issue. People contest election any time the opportunity arises. Reagan contested America’s presidency at 73 and he performed. The man thinks he is capable,” he said.
He added: “In fairness, ever since he recovered, the man has been working and he has been keeping his scheduled appointments, even some unscheduled appointments. Some few days ago, he has been trouble-shooting, jumping all over the place on the air. The man is now strong and apart from that, it is his right to seek election. He has the right, it is the people who will determine his fate,” he said.
Ogunade said he is upbeat with the preparation so far made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 election.
“All the loopholes that encouraged rigging are being blocked with technology. You might say it can be hacked. But this thing is simple. Each polling unit has a number. You know the number of people in a polling unit and results are transmitted real time. If there is discrepancy between result announced and result recorded at polling unit, it will be rejected,” he said.