[169]
Adamu Waziri as police affairs minister then initiated steps with the full support and approval of
President Jonathan to reverse Nuhu’s dismissal from the Police by the Police Service Commission,
and the prior demotion, and to restore his AIG rank. Within weeks, Nuhu had been reinstated into the
Force and restored to his rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police, then retired from the Police
Force with full benefits.
[170]
This was the front page headlines on the Punch newspaper of Friday, 9thJuly 2010 – see “ 2011: AC,
others shortlist Ribadu, el-Rufai as candidates” – By: Niyi Odebode . The Next newspaper story was
more emphatic on Nuhu’s candidature on its cover story of the same date.
[171]
Donald Duke, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili, Fola Adeola, Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir El-Rufai
[172]
And I had told former president Babangida so in 2001, when I visited him at Minna. We had
concluded a BPE management retreat and I passed through Minna with one of my staff who knew him
well to visit him. It was at that occasion that he intimated me of his plans to contest for the presidency
if and when Obasanjo completed his term(s) of office.
[173]
The headline appeared in The Sun during the month of October 2010, but I could not retrieve it
online.
[174]
See “Buhari should stick to the facts” – By: Muyiwa Adekeye on Sahara Reporters
http://saharareporters.com/article/el-rufai-buhari-should-stick-facts dated 4th October, 2010.
[175]
See Endnote 9 above for the summary of the well-considered ruling delivered by Justice Adamu
Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja on October 20th, 2010.
[176]
Section 87(4) of the Electoral Act 2010 provided that: “A political party that adopts the system of
indirect primaries for the choice of its candidate shall adopt the procedure outlined below:
(a) In the case of nominations to the position of Presidential candidate, a political party shall,
(i) hold special conventions in each of the 36 States of the Federation and FCT, where delegates shall
vote for each of the aspirants at designated centres in each State Capital on specified dates.
(ii) a National Convention shall be held for the ratification of the candidate with the highest number
of votes.
(iii) the aspirant with the highest number of votes at the end of voting in the 36 States of the
Federation and FCT, shall be declared the winner of the Presidential primaries of the political party
and the aspirants name shall be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the
candidate of the party after ratification by the national convention.
[177]
One of the self-acclaimed Buhari “brand owners” even said to the face of one of us that we
“chopped” under Obasanjo and PDP, and are now rushing to “double-dip” just when they were about
to reap the benefits of their years of investment in building the Buhari brand. We took many of these
insults and similar snide remarks stoically throughout the campaign. The Buhari inner circle were
certain that the election was a walk over and they would win, so did not want anyone they considered
‘latter-day opportunists’ near the General. This mentality frustrated many efforts to broaden the
platform and enter into alliances with other parties, groups and individuals, partly contributing to
some of the electoral challenges the party experienced in April 2011.
[178]
Obasanjo contacted Ngozi and she expressed interest in being the running mate, subject to consulting
her husband and parents. A few days later, she flew to Nigeria to meet the first condition of being a
candidate in an election – register to vote. By then, Pastor Bakare had been announced as running
mate, so she left without meeting Buhari, but I gathered had a conversation with Obasanjo.
[179]
See
the
manifesto
on
the
campaign
website: http://buhari4change.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/02/CPC-OurCommitmentToNigeria.pdf accessed on 15th March 2011.
[180]
The full text of the speech titled ‘Nigerian Democracy and Prospects for the 2011 Elections’ is
available on http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/109637 accessed 12th March 2012.
[181]
With the exception of Osun State, the PDP surprisingly won in all the south-west states, and even Edo
State, where Nuhu’s good friend (and mine) Adams Oshiomhole was the sitting governor. The most
positive interpretation of many observers was either that Asiwaju Tinubu negotiated a deal with
Jonathan and the PDP, or sent clear messages to ACN supporters to vote any way they wished. Either
way, regionalism and religion trumped competence and common sense!
[182]
Extracts from “Nigerian Democracy and Prospects for the 2011 Elections” by Nasir El-Rufai, and
available on www.chathamhouse.org
[183]
These malpractices were widespread and even more apparent in the South-East and South-South
regions of the country. In Rivers State, the governor, Rotimi Amaechi, complained of low voter
turnout, yet the final results showed 76% turnout, out of which 99% voted for Jonathan and the ruling
party PDP!
[184]
The
paper
I
presented
is
available
on
Sahara
Reporters
website
-
http://saharareporters.com/article/nigerian-2011-elections-opportunity-lost-nasir-ahmad-el-rufai
accessed on 30th November 2011. The audio record of the entire two hours of the proceedings is
available
for
download
on
the
Atlantic
Council
website
-
see
http://www.acus.org/files/Africa/041911_ACUS_NigeriaElection.mp3 accessed on 31st July 2011.
[185] William Wallis introduced the three points of view; see http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-
brics/2011/06/01/post-election-nigeria-whats-next/#axzz1wk41UhSz and my own abridged views
titled “Nigeria – Muddling through or economic disaster?” - http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-
brics/2011/06/01/post-election-nigeria-muddling-through-or-economic-disaster/#axzz1wk41UhSz
accessed on 15th January, 2012.
[186]
El-Rufai on Friday also appears on my website, the back page of‘Peoples Daily’ , Sahara Reporters,
NigeriaIntel.com, Nigeria Village Square, Gamji.com and Huhuonline . It also features
on Newsdiaryonline.com , Facebook and Twitter. Several other bloggers like omojuwa.com,
Elombah.com and African Herald Express regularly feature the articles. The series of articles aim to
undertake factual analysis of key policy areas and are unique in their assemblage of history, fact-
based arguments, data and prescriptions for better governance.
[187]
See “What Nigerians Pay the Federal Government” on the Back page of Thisday , 1st July 2011. It is
also
available
online
on
my
website: www.el-Rufai.org
or
http://www.thisdaylive.com/ar
ticles/what-nigerians-pay-fg/94277/ accessed on 16th August 2011.
[188]
“Jonathan’s Tough Choices ” attempted to sketch the challenges the new administration would face,
and nearly a year later as I write this, my prediction of nightmare has become Nigeria’s reality. See
Back
page
of Thisday ,
10th
June
2011
and
available
on
my
website
and
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-s-tough-choices/92977/ accessed on August 17th, 2011.
[189]
See “Sleeping with both eyes open” on the Back page of Thisday of 2nd September 2011. It is also
available on my website or http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/sleeping-with-both-eyes-open-
/97589/ accessed 17th September, 2011
[190]
Azazi was appointed the chief of army staff by Obasanjo in 2006. He was promoted to Chief of
Defence Staff in 2007 and quietly retired by President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2008 due to his alleged
involvement in the sale of guns and ammunition to Niger Delta militants in November 2007.
See “Secret Army Report Implicates NSA Azazi, Ibori, Alamieyeseigha, Henry And Sunny Okah In
Sale Of Military Weapons To Niger Delta Militants ” available for download on Sahara Reporters
http://saharareporters.com/report/secret-army-report-implicates-nsa-azazi-ibori-alamieyeseigha-
henry-and-sunny-okah-sale-milita accessed on 30th October, 2010.
[191]
I later learnt from officials of the administration that the real reason was our outing at Chatham
House, and how we succeeded in changing the narrative about the “free and fair elections” of April
2011. The SSS was more interested in seizing my laptop and travel bag to search for ‘subversive
materials’ than anything. Sadly, they were unable to lay their hands on either!
[192]
Some days later, on the 6thof July to be precise, we had a group meeting to undertake an after-action
review of what happened. I was taken aback at how angry some of my friends and family members
were at my writing for ThisDay , agreeing to be a member of its editorial board and being a weekly
‘government critic’. I listened carefully, explained to everyone what I thought I was doing and we
agreed to move on nevertheless in the same direction. I rejected any suggestions to soften my hardline
opposition posture. Some of my friends did not realize how well I knew Jonathan and how certain I
was about what his administration would turn out to be. Within months, vindication had bubbled to
the surface and we are now all on the same page on most of these issues.
[193]
Those interested in a legal analysis of this path-breaking case, the different paths taken by the Court of
Appeal and the Supreme Court to reach the same outcomes, please read THE SUPREME COURT:
WHITHER THE PRINCIPLES: A REVIEW OF DIRECTOR OF S.S.S V. AGBAKOBA ” – TAYO
OYETIBO, SAN available online at tayooyetibolaw.com/admin/doc/1325672154.docx accessed 25th
March 2012.
[194]
Member Feese sustained serious injuries when a suicide bomber crashed a vehicle into the UN
headquarters building in Abuja on 26th August 2011. She was flown to the UK for treatment and
Yasmin regularly visited her. We found a letter addressed to President Jonathan in my daughter’s
laptop complaining about the event and Nigeria’s healthcare system as her response to the incident.
[195]
“In Loving Memory of Yasmin El-Rufai” is a touching tribute to my daughter by Dipo Salimonu on the
Back
Page
of
Thisday,
2nd
December
2011.
Available
online:
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/in-loving-memory-of-yasmin-el-rufai/104065/ accessed on 16th February, 2012. Yasmin’s friendship with Dipo may have begun when I spoke at TEDxEuston on 5 th
December 2009 at the University of London. They became very good friends and he remains close to
our family.
[196]
“Yasmin – Gone Too Soon” by Second-Lieutenant Bashir Bala was published in the Weekly Trust of
10th
December
2011.
The
moving
tribute
is
also
available
online
http://weeklytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7870:yasmin-gone-too-
soon&catid=47:tribute&Itemid=168 accessed 18th March, 2012. Bashir contacted me via Facebook requesting me to attend his graduation from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. I agreed and
introduced him to Yasmin to finalize the travel arrangements. She became an elder sister to him and a
mentor of sorts. Sadly, she died before the graduation which I attended on the 16th of December,
2011, to honour the promise we both made to be with Bashir on that very important day of his life.
[197]
As state governor of the old North-Eastern State (now six states of North-East Zone), federal minister
of petroleum, head of state and chair of PSTF, Buhari executed his assignments with integrity,
singular focus, even-handedness and patriotism.
Document Outline
Copyright
Dedication
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
F o r e w o r d
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Prologue: The Beginning of the End
Chapter One Humble Origins
Chapter Two The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter Three From Abacha to Obasanjo – a series of accidents
Chapter Four Taking Charge of Privatization and Policy Reform
Chapter Five “You will see the meaning of power”
Chapter Six The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend-- Unless the Friend is El-Rufai
Chapter Seven The Economic Team -Key Players
Chapter Eight Abuja - the Economic Reform Laboratory
Chapter Nine Land Reforms
Chapter Ten Sale of Government Houses in Abuja
Chapter Eleven Restoring the Abuja Master Plan
Chapter Twelve A Large Construction Site
Chapter Thirteen Reforming the Public Service
Chapter Fourteen Covert Battles
Chapter Fifteen From bad to worse
Chapter Sixteen Exile
Chapter Seventeen Five Years of Invaluable Experience
Epilogue
Afterword
Endnotes
The Accidental Public Servant Page 75
