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Buhari to blame for nation’s woes, he set booby trap for Tinubu – Afenifere
The Pan-Yoruba Socio-political group, Afenifere on Friday said former President Muhammadu Buhari set booby trap for President Bola Tinubu by not removing fuel subsidy.
The organisation said Tinubu is never to be blamed for the economic hardship in the country, saying he only summoned up courage by removing fuel subsidy, instead of postponing the evil days.
Afenifere said this in a statement issued by Otunba Kole Omololu, National Organising secretary and Comrade Jare Ajayi, Publicity Secretary, titled: “What Sins Did President Tinubu Commit?”
The statement said Afenifere had watched with significant disbelief the sudden reawakening of voices across the federation over the worsening economic situation in Nigeria, saying many forgot that the economic downturn was caused by the Buhari Administration on a platform of hope and defective federalism, as promises were made, most of which were not fulfilled.
“Under Buhari’s watch, terrorists and banditry were operating effortlessly. Law and order broke down. Many innocent citizens including the daughter of our leader were killed and or kidnapped. President Buhari could not rein in on his critical officials like the then Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who was printing money rather than facing the reality of taking the difficult decisions, which were postponed till the evil day.
“A probe panel was reported to have accused Godwin Emefiele and his team of printing N22.7 trillion through ways and means. We remembered that we were borrowing to pay salaries and pensions during the years of the Buhari administration.
“We recall that some ministers suggested the removal of subsidies, among other economic decisions. But President Buhari would not agree until his last year in office to lay a booby trap for the incoming administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“It was, therefore, obvious that we were simply postponing the evil day. The CBN Governor denied leaks flying around that the books were being doctored. He reassured the federation that all was well. He even wanted to contest the presidential election! There were no penalties for his infractions by President Buhari. These inactions and false lives continued till May 29, 2023, when the new helmsman, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was sworn in as President,” Afenifere said.
The organisation said Tinubu wasted no time amending his inauguration address and declared the subsidy regime over, saying this was obvious as there was no appropriation for subsidy from June 2023.
“He quickly followed up with the deregulation of the forex regime, which resulted in the free fall of the Naira. A man who is not shy about making difficult decisions, he probably underestimated the capability and capacity of the beneficiaries of the old order to make things ungovernable for his administration.
“Those sleeping and snoring during the eight years of Buhari suddenly woke up. They forgot that these remedial actions should have been taken many years back. The major sins of PBAT reside in his daring to contest and win the presidential election and make these decisions, which will hurt in the short term but bring us back to reality in the long run,” the body said.
According to Afenifere, what was needed right now is vibrant Ministry of Information to regularly stay in touch with the people, as current economic challenges are worldwide in scope and not peculiar to Nigeria.
It also suggested regular town hall meetings across the country where ministers would go back to their constituencies to engage with the people, as well as realignment of the National Assembly budget and launch of operation go back to the people by the legislators, with each National Assembly member taken palliatives back to the constituency.
Afenifere added that governors receiving almost double allocations due to the removal of subsidies and readjustment of the exchange rates should deliver to their people, saying that the allocations of each state of the federation should be published on a monthly basis
The organisation stated that there should be implementation of operation ‘grow what we eat and eat what we grow policy.’
Afenifere added that the government should make banditry, kidnapping and terrorism a capital offence punishable by death as well as return to true and fiscal federalism with state police, for which “we commend the President and Governors’ endorsement, and state ownership of mineral resources.”
Some senior officials of the Kwara State Local Government Service Commission have been kidnapped by gunmen along the Omu-Aran/Ilorin Road.
The victims were abducted on Friday evening.
Those kidnapped are: the Head of the Legal Department of Oke-Ero Local Government, Elizabeth Arinde, and the Head of Personnel Management of the council, whose name could not be immediately confirmed.
It was gathered on Saturday night that the two senior administrators were among seven individuals kidnapped at Corner Eleyin along the Omu-Aran/Ilorin Expressway while returning to Ilorin, the state capital, for the weekend on Friday, April 25, 2025.
The incident occurred at about 5:45pm where five gunmen ambushed the two private vehicles before leading the passengers into the bush.
The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed the incident.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, on Saturday.
The statement added “The Kwara State Police Command confirms a kidnap incident reported at about 5:45 p.m. on Friday, 25th April 2025, at Eleyin village via Isanlu-Isin. It was reported that about five armed men blocked the highway, stopping two private vehicles, forcefully taking all occupants to an unknown location.
“Following the report, the command, in collaboration with the military and vigilantes, launched a swift operation, leading to the successful rescue of two victims, Ganiyu Ajayi and Kolawole Adeyemi.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue the remaining five victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
“The command has intensified security measures across the area, including aggressive bush combing, strategic patrols, and intelligence-driven operations to prevent further occurrences”
The Chief of Civil-Military Affairs (Army), Major General Gold Chibuisi, has condemned the harassment and assault of civilians unlawfully wearing military uniforms, stressing that while such acts are illegal, the Nigerian Army does not support violence against offenders.
Speaking during a media chat with Defence correspondents on Saturday night in Abuja, Maj. Gen. Chibuisi said that although it is against Nigerian law for non-military personnel to wear military uniforms, soldiers must act professionally and lawfully when handling such cases.
“I’m surprised that in most briefs we give in our programmes, we always talk about this uniform issue because it keeps recurring. It’s against the law of the land. If you are not in the armed forces, please don’t use our uniform, whether you love it or not.
“But that’s one part of it. Let people stop it. The other part is what we do, what our troops do when they see somebody dressed in a military uniform. You’re supposed to just get the person to remove it, arrest, and hand it over to the police, basically for persecution. All these other things that come with it are not right. And we are doing sensitisation on them.”
He said many soldiers had been sanctioned for assaulting Nigerians who wore military camouflage.
” Those that we find and there is evidence that they did that, we always sanction them sternly. And we’ll continue to do that, ” Chibuisi said.
He appealed to citizens to avoid wearing military uniforms illegally, noting that respecting the uniform is an important part of strengthening national security and building trust between the military and the public.
Chibuisi noted that criminals increasingly exploit military uniforms to commit crimes, making it harder for civilians and security agencies to identify genuine soldiers.
“Currently, there are a lot of criminals using military garb to perpetrate crime. If people keep dressing like that, how do you differentiate between a criminal and a genuine soldier?”
He urged families and communities to help with sensitization at the home level.
“If somebody you know is not in the military comes out in the morning, and he wants to jog or drive somewhere wearing our uniform, you should tell him not to, “he said.
Chibuisi also reminded the public that the Army belongs to the people and should be seen as part of their families, not as distant or fearsome figures.
“There is no army that doesn’t want itself to be seen as working for the people. We are the Nigerian Army. The Nigerian people own us.”
As part of efforts to foster better understanding, the Army, he said, is strengthening its sensitisation campaigns both internally among troops and externally to the wider public.
“We are fine-tuning the conduct of our personnel.
“And I believe as we keep interacting, the relationship will continue to improve, ” he said.
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