Succession: Bakare’s Call On Buhari

Last Sunday, the Serving Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church, formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, in a nationwide live broadcast in his church, stunned Nigerians when he urged President Muhammadu Buhari, not to leave the choice of his successor in 2023 to chance.
Contrary to the declaration by the President last year that he had no intention of grooming anyone to succeed him in office, Bakare said it was important for President Buhari to influence the choice of who would emerge his successor in 2023 so that his legacies would not be rubbished.
Buhari had last July declared: “Succession is very funny because if I did find anybody, I will create more problems for him or her. Let those who want to be President try as much as I did.”
But Bakare, who had declared his intention to be Nigeria’s 16th President after Buhari, who is number 15, said after a visit earlier last week that there was a risk that a looter might take over if Buhari did not deliberately plan and determine who his successor would be.
Said Bakare, “God is into succession. Anyone in government that does not concern himself about succession is destroying his own legacy because the person coming after you can just mess up everything”.
While The Tide backs the yearning of every well meaning Nigerian to continue to push for a corruption-free nation, we disagree completely with the position of Bakare that the choice of who succeeds the incumbent of an elective office such as the President or any other political office holder should be the prerogative of the incumbent in a democracy.
Every succession in Nigeria’s democracy must be guided by the 1999 Constitution, like those of 1979 and 1989, and the draft Constitution of 1995, which has explicitly provided for a Federal Republic with an Executive President who is elected every four years by universal adult suffrage. Therefore, any other contrary plan would be aimed at destabilising the country’s democracy.
Against this backdrop, we welcome the prompt rejection of Bakare’s advice and the President’s reassurance that he would observe due and legal processes that will bring about the emergence of his successor. At this time when Nigeria is experiencing 21 years of uninterrupted democratic rule, the Buhari administration must take every necessary step to avoid overt and covert actions or inactions that pose threat to the nation’s democracy.
We say so because recent events surrounding the rumoured third term agenda of President Buhari and the failed attempts to push through a bill seeking to provide for a six-year single term for the President, Governors and members of the national and states Houses of Assembly are unhealthy developments at this stage of Nigeria’s democratic life.
Rather than overheat the polity, the President should be urged to focus on changing the narrative of violence, electoral murder, arson, herdsmen attacks and palpable fear now pervading the nation. The tendency of bringing tribe, religion and ethnicity to the front burner in a bid to sway the electorate and buy their sympathy and their votes must be discouraged and erased from our political experience.
Also, while we expect to see a system that will usher in credible, free and fair election, we envisage reversal of the traditional hate messages freely packaged and promoted as party manifestoes. Politicians must stop the use of social media as veritable tool for hate messaging. Indeed, making this the content and hallmark of Nigeria’s democracy should not be allowed to continue.
Moreso, our electoral system is threatened by many other factors. One of such is voter apathy and lack of trust in the electoral process, particularly as electoral officials are often accused of bias. We foresee the waning of citizens’ trust in our democratic institutions and processes, mainly due to reasons relating to poor and non-inclusive governance and electoral corruption. Again, the independence of electoral institutions is in doubt, as many believe that whoever pays the piper dictates the tune. Changing all of this is a herculean task before President Buhari.
Therefore, Bakare and his likes should prescribe and recommend the jettisoning of the ‘winner-takes-all’ politics by encouraging the building of institutions and processes that are vital for multi-party competition and separation of powers.
While integrity in elections is crucial, we call for the strengthening of the rule of law in order to protect the rights of voters and candidates and by so doing contribute to building citizens’ trust in democracy. Elections are a time to renew mandates, consolidate achievements and remove incompetent and ineffective leaders. No single individual can decide or determine the President of the country come 2023. The choice rests with the people.