Buhari says chaos is looming

Former head of state Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the country is sliding into total breakdown of law and order because of injustice, bad governance and “massive and mindless” stealing of public resources.
In a bluntly worded statement he personally signed, in reaction to the Supreme Court judgment dismissing his party’s petition against the presidential election, General Buhari said Nigeria was “now a fractured society, corruption everywhere, violence everywhere, a sense of helplessness and hopelessness nearly everywhere.”
He said unless the leaders of the country move fast to arrest the situation, chaos would set in and there would be breakdown of law and order.
But he said it does not look like the leaders are concerned with the grave situation, as while “the country is sliding into this chaotic state, PDP governments at the centre and in the states are engaged in massive and mindless plunder of the country’s resources in total disregard of the suffering masses.”
“The country now is in an emergency situation. Law and order can break down at any time. Those in charge of the country should be warned that promises and sweet words are no substitute for practical action. To avert the looming chaos in the New Year, immediate steps should be taken to drastically reduce the cost of governance in the three tiers of government.”
Buhari detailed the governance costs he wanted slashed: “Salaries and especially allowances should be drastically reduced; security votes should be abolished – not increased as the 2012 Budget has done. Votes for the Armed forces, Police and Security Services should be transparent and accountable; foreign travel and estacodes should be stopped for at least six months other than for the Presidency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and medical emergencies. Government House expenses in all the states should be drastically reduced, foreign travel suspended for a while. The National Assembly should give a lead in reducing their allowances substantially and stopping their foreign travels. These savings should be applied to education, infrastructure and agriculture with emphasis on youth employment through meaningful and practical emergency programmes. The public will see through any cosmetic or token gestures and will not tolerate a continuation of status quo. Corruption and plunder are the root causes of unemployment, insecurity, violence and unrest.”
He added: “If all hands are on deck to help save our country from imminent collapse we should stabilize. When that happens Nigeria should take a close look at the country’s structure in a calm and unemotional atmosphere. Hopefully we may come to a better form of government to see Nigeria through the next 50 years.”
Buhari unsuccessfully contested for president in the April election on CPC’s platform, and his party challenged the results at the tribunal, even though he personally refused to join the case. The Court of Appeal earlier dismissed the petition for failing to convincingly show that the elections were rigged, and yesterday the Supreme Court concurred.
On yesterday’s judgement, Buhari said: “All who witnessed the conduct of the 2011 elections would know that this decision of the Supreme Court is politically motivated and has little judicial content.”
He said, “This Supreme Court has proved no better than the Supreme Courts of 2003 and 2007” having toed a similar line of dismissing the election petition.
Buhari said this year’s election “eclipsed all the other elections in the depth and scope of forgery and rigging.”
He criticised INEC chairman Attahiru Jega, who he said “was touted as competent and a man of integrity. He has proved neither.”