Last week, General Buhari flew out of Nigeria suddenly in the company of two of his close aides, ostensibly to get away from the pressure that had been brought to bear on him by members of his party the All Progressives Congress (APC). Party members, state governors and varied interest groups had laid siege to him over recent weeks as the lobbying for posts in his government intensified.
Alhaji Shagari happened to be in the UK too and he and General Buhari, who overthrew him in a military coup d’etat 32 years ago, met up and decided to fly back together. They will arrive onboard a British Airways flight that is scheduled to land in Abuja around 4 am in the morning.
During his six-day trip to the UK, General Buhari met with British Prime Minister David Cameron, during which they agreed to cooperate on areas of security and economic development. He will return to Nigeria just 24 hours before his swearing-in as the country's fifth democratically elected president.
Alhaji Shagari, who was in office between October 1, 1979 and December 31, 1983, was Nigeria’s first democratically elected president. His government was overthrown amid allegations of widespread corruption, which have also been the hallmark of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
General Buhari's aides said he left Nigeria last Friday to get some rest ahead of the inauguration before plunging into the arduous task of running the country. However, his trip, which he embarked upon without the knowledge of the leadership of the APC, has caused disquiet among its chieftains, as it was the first clear signal that the president-elect is a man of independent thinking determined to do things his way.
In recent days, General Buhari has made it known that Nigeria's state governors will have no say in determining the members of his cabinet. He made this abundantly clear to them after they had submitted their ministerial lists but he rejected it, saying that he had no say in who their commissioners should be.
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