THERE are so many things weighing on President Muhammadu Buhari’s mind at the moment. As the leader of the most populous nation in Africa, he carries an enormous task on his lean shoulders.
Two things are of immediate concern to him and these are the war against the Coronavirus pandemic and the appointment of a new Chief of Staff (CoS) following the death of Mallam Abba Kyari on April 17.
To the President and others in government close to Kyari, the COVID-19 battle may have become a personal thing following the death of a friend and an associate.
If not for any other thing, they will like to be seen doing all in their power to curtail the COVID-19 threat for the sake of ‘a good man’ as one eulogist put it. Whether Kyari was a ‘good man’ or not, posterity will say, no matter what anybody writes today.
Who wears the shoes he left behind? If not for COVID-19, this ordinarily should be the President’s main focus now. But, no matter how important the COVID-19 battle is, he cannot afford to lose concentration on the CoS matter too.
Through the making of our leaders, the CoS has become central to the running of government that it seems they cannot do without having such an appointee around.
The CoS, by my own little understanding, is the agent of the President, who is his principal. He acts in that behalf and performs duties assigned to him by his principal.
It is expected that in delegating authority to the CoS, the President will not abdicate his own constitutional responsibilities. The President should not under the guise of delegation, allow his CoS to become the lord of the manor at the Villa.
There is only one captain at the Villa and that person is the President who steers the ship of the nation and does not share his power with anyone not even the CoS.
The President must reflect deeply before choosing Kyari’s successor. He must be careful not to pick an overly ambitious person. He needs a CoS who is firm, friendly and frugal; not a CoS who will contest for power with other members of the cabinet.
The CoS should at best be a sit-in member of the cabinet since he has no constitutional recognition like the appointed ministers.
Since by convention, the CoS is deemed a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), he should not see that as an opportunity to become an overlord to the ministers.
How powerful the CoS becomes lies with the President. If the President takes his job the way he should, the CoS will not overstep his bounds, but where he is allowed a free rein, he will run riot over the whole place. The point must be made that the CoS is not an alternate president.
He is not a substitute for the President at whose pleasure he holds office. So, he can easily be fired by the President who hired him in the first place. The CoS should know his limits within Aso Villa.
He should not allow being the President’s aide to get to his head. We are told that the Presidency is one. That being the case, he should give the Vice President the respect that office deserves.
In the President’s absence, the Vice President is the next in line and not the CoS, who may want to see himself as the alternate president. Section 145 of the Constitution is clear on this.
No matter how power-hungry a CoS may be, he cannot usurp the constitutional role of the Vice President and the President should not give him the impression that he can do that in his absence.
What happened under Kyari should not be allowed to rear its head in the new dispensation that is able to unfold at the Presidency.
The nation does not want a CoS who will become a monster that cannot be tamed. A lot has been written about how Kyari ran the Presidency.
He was said to have left no one in doubt that he was in charge of Aso Villa. That is how it should be because among Villa staff he is primus interpares (first among equals). But he must remember that the Vice President does not fall into that category; so, he cannnot be bigger than the Vice President who also has an office in the Villa.
He may have control over the Vice President’s staff since the Presidency is one but that does not put the Vice President under him. The CoS should learn to live with the fact that the Vice President is his boss.
If we do not want another power tussle at the Villa, the CoS should be mindful of the circumstances of his appointment and learn to live within the dictates of his office.
He should not dabble into extraneous matters which may call to question his integrity. We saw things like these happen in the immediate past in the pension chief Abdulrashid Maina’s case, the MTN $5.2billion fine, and the usurpation of the functions of some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
In the Maina case, the nation watched the altercation between Kyari and former Head of Service (HoS) Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita on national television.
Oyo-Ita accused Kyari of bringing Maina, a sacked and wanted top civil servant, back into Service without her knowledge, claiming that she warned against the consequences of such action.
Should a CoS be involved in such matters? Your guess is as good as mine. Shortly after the television drama, Oyo-Ita was accused of corruption and removed as HoS. I wonder what she would write if asked to say something about the Kyari she knew.
Some names are being mentioned for the CoS’ job. By now, there will be lobbying in high places for the plum job. The President holds the joker in picking who he prefers. He needs divine guidance in making his choice. May he choose right. (The Nation)
