Muhammadu Buhari

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Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942) was the military ruler of Nigeria (December 31, 1983 - August 27, 1985) and an unsuccessful candidate for president in the April 19, 2003 presidential election. His ethnic background is Fulani and his faith is Islam; his family is from Katsina State.

Minister of Petroleum

Buhari first came to limelight in 1975 when He became the Minister (or "commissioner") for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then-Head of State General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he was the Governor of the newly created North Eastern State of Nigeria during the regime of Murtala Mohammed. He later became head of the newly created Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.^[2] in 1977^[3]

Chad

In 1983, when Chadian soldiers invaded and took 19 islands in the Lake Chad- Nigerian territories. The, then Brigadier Buhari , who was the GOC commanding the 3rd Army successfully carried out a blockade of Chad. After which all the territories were returned. The Nigerian Army under Buhari then pursued the Chadian Army as afar as 50 km into Chadian territory^[4].

Buhari Administration

Major-General Buhari was 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 31, 1983. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto #2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War Against Indiscipline (WAI)." Despite authoritarian tendencies, the campaign is still lauded by many to have instilled the most orderly conduct of public and private affairs in Nigeria since its independence in 1960. Buhari's administration was initially popular with the majority of Nigerians. However, this support quickly ebbed away as the new regime resorted to ever more severe methods to stifle criticism of the government, including the promulgation of the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No. 2, which gave the government the right to detain indefinitely, without trial any person(s) it suspected to be a threat to the nation; and the Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree No. 4, which essentially criminalized any unfounded allegation against government officials in the press, no matter how trivial.

Members

1985 Coup and Overthrow

Buhari was himself overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida on August 27, 1985 and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) ostensibly, because he insisted on investigating allegations of fraudulent award of contracts in the Ministry of Defense ^[5]. If that investigation had been carried through, it is believed that many senior military officers would have been implicated. Buhari's insistence on this investigation was to become his fait accompli. A Palace Coup was planned and carried out by Gen Ibrahim Babangida and some senior military officers whose necks were heading for the chopping block following the conclusion of the investigation. Without a doubt, this would have become Buhari's and Idiagbon's most bitter and shocking lesson on how endemic and widespread corruption had become in Nigeria.

Later years

Buhari served under the administration of General Sani Abacha, as the head of the Petroleum Trust Fund, a body created by Government, and funded from deductions in the Revenue fund, to pursue developmental projects around the country. His transparent and efficient handling of this agency endeared him to Nigerians, especially in the North.

In 2003, Buhari contested the Presidential election^[6] as the candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the People's Democratic Party nominee, President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, by a margin of more than eleven million votes. It was claimed by Mr Buhari's supporters and other members of the opposition that out that in some states, like Ebonyi, there were more votes than there were actually registered voters ^[7][8] Although some allegations of fraud were conclusively proven in the courts and the conduct of the election was criticized by the same Commonwealth body that criticized the recent Zimbabwean Elections - Commonwealth Observer Group,^[9] the general consensus among Nigerians was that he should not waste his time in court as he did not have the necessary resources to "buy" himself justice. Eventually, the same court also decided that the level of proven electoral fraud was not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and to warrant the cancellation of the whole Presidential election.

On 18 December 2006, Gen. Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar'Adua, who also hails from the same home state - Katsina. In the election, Buhari officially took 18% of the vote against 70% for Yar'Adua, but Buhari rejected these results ^[10]. After Yar'Adua took office, the ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari denounced this agreement ^[11].

External links

• Official Site
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3421277.stm

References

v • d • e Heads of State of Nigeria First Republic Azikiwe Military regime (1st time) Aguiyi-Ironsi • Gowon • Mohammed • Obasanjo Second Republic Shagari Military regime (2nd time) Buhari • Babangida • Shonekan (interim)* • Abacha • Abubakar Fourth Republic Obasanjo • Yar'Adua * civilian; headed transition to abortive Third Republic

v • d • e Candidates in the 2007 Nigerian presidential election Umaru Yar'Adua · Muhammadu Buhari · Atiku Abubakar · Orji Uzor Kalu · Attahiru Bafarawa · Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu · Pere Ajuwa · Chris Okotie · Patrick Utomi · Ambrose Owuru · Emmanuel Okereke · Lawrence Adedoyin · Habu Fari · Maxi Okwu · Bartholomew Nnaji · Emmanuel Obayuwana · Olapade Agoro · Mojisola Obasanjo