Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) CPC Presidential Candidate
Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942) was the military ruler of Nigeria (December 31, 1983 – August 27, 1985) and an unsuccessful candidate for president in the April 19, 2003 presidential election. His ethnic background is Fulani and his faith is Islam; his family is from Katsina State.
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Presidential Candidate was former head of state and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria from Jan. 1984 to Aug. 1985.
Born on Dec. 17, 1942 in Daura, Katsina State. Buhari started his education at Mai’Adua Primary Schools, Daura from 1948 to 1952. He was at the Katsina Middle School, Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College), Katsina between 1953 and 1961.
* He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1962 and was trained at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna, 1962;
* Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, United Kingdom, 1962-63;
* Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, India, January-November, 1973 and Army War College, USA, 1979-80;
* He held many strategic military and political posts;
* He was Military Governor of North-Eastern State in 1975;
* Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Energy 1976-1978;
* Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) 1978-79;
* General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2nd Mechanised Infantry Division, 1981 and GOC 3rd Armoured Division, 1981-83.
After a bloodless coup on 30th Dec. 1983, Major-General Buhari was sworn-in as Nigeria’s seventh Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He was ousted in a bloodless coup on August 27, 1985. Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was the Chairman of the state owned Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) from 1994 to 1998.
He holds the national award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR) among other laurels.
Minister of Petroleum
Buhari first came to limelight in 1975 when He became the Minister (or “Federal Commissioner”) for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then-Head of State General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he was the Governor of the newly created North Eastern State of Nigeria during the regime of Murtala Mohammed. He later became head of the newly created Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. in 1977.
Chad
In 1983 Chadian soldiers invaded and took 19 islands in the Lake Chad- Nigerian territories. The then Brigadier Buhari, who was the General Officer Commanding commanding the 3rd Armoured Division (which he did from November 1981 – December 1983) successfully carried out a blockade of Chad. After which all the territories were returned. The Nigerian Army under Buhari then pursued the Chadian Army as afar as 50 km into Chadian territory. The 21st Armoured Brigade carried out the blockade and the fighting.
Buhari Administration
Major-General Buhari was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d’etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto #2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military’s seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as “War Against Indiscipline (WAI).” Despite authoritarian tendencies, the campaign is still lauded by many to have instilled the most orderly conduct of public and private affairs in Nigeria since its independence in 1960.
1985 Coup and Overthrow
Buhari was himself overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida on August 27, 1985 and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) ostensibly because he insisted on investigating allegations of fraudulent award of contracts in the Ministry of Defense. If that investigation had been carried through, it is believed that many senior military officers would have been implicated. Buhari’s insistence on this investigation was to become his fait accompli. A Palace Coup was planned and carried out by Gen Ibrahim Babangida and some senior military officers whose necks were heading for the chopping block following the conclusion of the investigation. Without a doubt, this would have become Buhari’s and Idiagbon’s most bitter and shocking lesson on how endemic and widespread corruption had become in Nigeria.
Later years
Buhari served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, a body created by the Government of General Abacha, and funded from the revenue generated by the increase in price of petroleum products from, to pursue developmental projects around the country. His transparent and efficient handling of this agency endeared him to Nigerians.
In 2003, Buhari contested the Presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the People’s Democratic Party nominee, President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, by a margin of more than eleven million votes. It was claimed by Mr Buhari’s supporters and other members of the opposition that out that in some states, like Ebonyi, there were more votes than there were actually registered voters. Although some allegations of fraud were conclusively proven in the courts and the conduct of the election was criticized by the same Commonwealth body that criticized the recent Zimbabwean Elections – Commonwealth Observer Group,the consensus among Nigerians was that he should not waste his time in court as he did not have the necessary resources to “buy” himself justice. Eventually, the same court also decided that the level of proven electoral fraud was not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and to warrant the cancellation of the whole Presidential election.
On 18 December 2006, Gen. Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, who also hails from the same home state – Katsina. In the election, Buhari officially took 18% of the vote against 70% for Yar’Adua, but Buhari rejected these results. After Yar’Adua took office, the ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari denounced this agreement.
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