President Muhammadu Buhari’s official biographer, Prof. John Paden has disclosed that the President is largely seen as not being “a natural party politician” within the All Progressives Congress, APC, as party chieftains regard him as a “loner” and “outsider”.
In a book titled: “Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria” which was presented to the public on Monday, the author noted that rather than meet with Buhari, many APC chiefs always preferred to hold midnight meetings with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo inside his residence in Abuja.
Paden explained that this was why many stakeholders want Buhari to be close to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; and a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who they believe can help him reach out.
He wrote, “With the PDP fracturing, observers wondered if splits were also developing in the APC, given that it is a coalition of recent vintage.
“As of spring 2016, no serious divisions were visible, although rumours often surfaced when Buhari was out of the country, especially regarding the status of the legal case against Senate President Saraki, a recent convert to the APC.
“President Buhari is not a natural party politician. Complaints have arisen within his party that he is a ‘loner’.
“APC politicians in Abuja were more likely to congregate at night at the home of the Vice-President than at the Presidential Villa with Buhari.
“The fact that Buhari has been perceived as an “outsider” to politics by the general public has been his strength.
“Still, voices within the APC have suggested Buhari engage such long-term politicians as Abubakar Atiku and Bola Tinubu to rally the APC governors and ensure that the President has closer ties to the state and local levels of the party.
“Men such as Atiku and Tinubu could provide links to key constituents, such as traditional rulers and grassroots NGOs.”
Also in the book, the biographer described the South-East as the greatest political challenge for Buhari, who he said received few votes from the zone in 2015.
Despite this, he said Buhari allocated four senior ministers to the zone: Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology, Trade and Industry as well as Labour.
Paden added that although the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources is from the South-South, he has ethnic ties with the South-East.
He then asserted that this sent a strong message that the President sees the South-East as a vital part of Nigeria.
