‘Democratic cabalism’ or something like that

In the initial fallout from the still simmering Saraki saga the nation was stunned to hear from Deputy Senate Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah that the Senate President’s problems should not be blamed on President Buhari but on “a cabal in the Presidency” instigating government institutions against him. Later reports quoted other sources as going further […]

In the initial fallout from the still simmering Saraki saga the nation was stunned to hear from Deputy Senate Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah that the Senate President’s problems should not be blamed on President Buhari but on “a cabal in the Presidency” instigating government institutions against him. Later reports quoted other sources as going further to identify the cabalists to comprise “two governors from the north west and leading member of the legendary Kaduna Mafia”. These revelations cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand considering the position of Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah and his standing as a veteran politician and lawyer as well as the circumstances surrounding the statements. So the cabalists are not only bouncing back but calling the shots in the Presidency!
For we laymen, the mere mention of cabalists and Kaduna Mafia sends shivers down our spines as we recount the fabled feats of these invisible but highly influential powers behind thrones which included the military and civilian governments alike. They were responsible for planning and executing military coups and then manipulating the emerging regimes to do their bidding in terms of juicy appointments and even juicier contracts and government largesse such as oil blocks. The civilian cabalists, most notably Kaduna Mafia, were reputed to be invincible as far as who becomes what and which government survives by sheer might of string-pulling subterfuge. Since most governments of the federation have been of northern composition since independence it is not surprising that these cabals were northern based.
But all that was supposed to have been blown away by the Buhari Tsunami of change targeting both governmental as well as political rot and malpractices and ushering a new dawn of purification of government affairs and punishment of culprits of corruption and other anti-people vices of which cabalism of any kind was included. Indeed, President Buhari’s famous inaugural parable of belonging to no one and belonging to everyone was widely interpreted to confirm the end of the era of invisible powers behind thrones manipulating and cornering governments for their selfish ends. So how come we are again hearing of cabalists even in this same Buhari Presidency that is supposed to be immune to such deficiencies?
In the first place, Buhari’s parable of belonging to everyone and no-one has often been regarded as a coded reference to the President’s determination to shrug and ultimately eliminate all those so-called sponsors of his first time success after three failed attempts to get elected. This was widely interpreted as a veiled notice to the Tinubus in particular to forget any plans of dominating or even laying claim to sharing rights to the awesome presidential powers and privileges. This much has since manifested in the frustrations that Tinubu and his ACN cabal in the APC faced. The on-going Saraki Saga is after all a direct fall-out of the initial stance of President Buhari not to lend a hand to the emergence of Tinubu’s ‘boys’, but to allow democracy take its course as determined by the senators and representatives themselves. In this context, the emergence of Saraki as Senate President was in tune with President Buhari’s stoic neutrality at the early days of his Presidency when he truly belonged to nobody. However, just as with anti-corruption, any moves against entrenched political forces such as the Tinubu Temple in the APC cannot but meet with stiff resistance and counter-measures, which is what almost led to the sudden disintegration of the APC over the issue of leadership of the National Assembly.
The APP and ANPP leaders who availed him of their presidential ticket will never forget how Buhari soon after retreated into the cocoon of die-hard loyalists and personal aides who called the shots of his ill-fated presidential campaigns. The TBO (The Buhari Organization) was the successor cabal that literally hijacked Buhari’s political agenda and often decided for him what he ought to decide for himself. It was this TBO that eventually metamorphosed into the caucus of the CPC as Buhari’s first outing under his own political party and later led him into the marriage of convenience that is now the APC. There is however no doubt that as President, Buhari has further redefined his ownership structure in isolation of the APC, particularly in strategic decisions of his Presidency.
Among others, his adamant reluctance to appoint ministers, the tactical disconnection of the APC leadership from nominations, appointments and decisions and announcements by the Presidency as well as the barely concealed shrinkage of Buhari’s inner circle to the unbearable minimum of two or three “right hand men” who certainly belong nowhere else are strongly suggestive of the cabalistic influence that deputy senate leader Na’Allah and his fellow intimidated colleagues are now aware of. Whether it is Kaduna Mafia or Aso Villa Caucus, the fact remains that  for the Buhari Presidency, no-one is indispensible in the quest for ensuring that Buhari practically belongs to no-one else outside. Not even clueless Nigerians awaiting change!
Mailafiya writes from Kafanchan