37.5%: SBM INTELLIGENCE ASSESSES BUHARI’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE [MUST READ]

by SBMorgen

As the first of what will be 14 one hundred day intervals of the Buhari administration approaches, an evaluation of his performance based on his campaign promises is in order. The hard work of active citizenship, totally different from the heat of campaigning, has begun in earnest, and only by holding leaders to account can a better deal for all be secured.

At SBM Intelligence, we firmly believe that every promise made on the campaign trail by the president and the party that provided the platform upon which he ran form a scorecard against which his performance must be measured. We also affirm that the “100 Day Covenant With Nigerians” which the presidential spokespeople and the APC have devoted excessive energy to dissociating the President from were indeed made by the party and then candidate Buhari and therefore form part of this assessment.

The promises of the Buhari campaign covered 24 areas, from Accountability in Public Service to Youth Development, and these are drawn from his manifesto. The specific promises, 170 in total, are given a score from 0 to 10. The totals are added up to give the overall score for the administration.

Area                                                                                                Score

1 Accountability in public service                                                          23/110

2 Anti-corruption                                                                                 7/30

3 Cost of governance                                                                           9/20

4 Constitutional amendment                                                                  0/40

5 National Security                                                                               25/80

6 Police reform                                                                                    3/50

7 Conflict management                                                                         7/30

8 Foreign relations                                                                               11/30

9 Economy                                                                                         8/200

10 Small business                                                                                 0/50

11 Job creation                                                                                   0/50

12 Agriculture                                                                                     0/170

13 Power                                                                                            12/80

14 Infrastructure                                                                                  0/60

15 Oil and Gas                                                                                    11/100

16 Education                                                                                      3/160

17 Health                                                                                           0/130

18 Youth Development                                                                         7/50

19 Sports                                                                                           0/50

20 Entertainment                                                                                 0/20

21 Gender Equality                                                                               4/70

22 ICT                                                                                               0/40

23 Environment                                                                                   3/70

24 Niger Delta                                                                                     4/20

            Total                                                                             137/1710

The strongest points for the administration in the first 100 days, have been moves to improve national security (31.25%), as well as the foreign relations (36.7%) necessary to help that effort. President Buhari’s meetings with the US, UK and our neighbours in the Lake Chad region have led to the formation of a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), and the appointment of a new national security team is expected to give a renewed vigour to the fight against Boko Haram.

Moves to reform the oil and gas sector (11%) have gone hand in hand with other measures to improve accountability (20.9%), like the implementation of a Treasury Single Account and the review of import waivers. The UNEP report on Ogoni Land has also received the attention of the Presidency, which is a good first step on a campaign promises to focus on the Niger Delta, resulting in a score of 20%. The country will be watching developments in that area with interest.

Power supply (15%) has improved significantly in the last 100 days, with new generation highs being reached regularly, however, the awaited policy framework that will guide the development of that critical sector going forward, is yet to be put in place.

9 of the 24 areas are yet to record any activity, a factor that can be attributed to the absence of a cabinet, which is expected to be put in place later this month. This is the longest any Nigerian leader has gone without a cabinet, and President Buhari has been liaising exclusively with Permanent Secretaries in the first 100 days, presumably to acquaint himself with activities in each ministry, especially as regards the document of the Transition Committee, led by Ahmed Joda.

In a good number of the areas where there has been no activity, the necessary framework is hinged on regulatory work of the National Assembly. The leadership crisis in both chambers has however ensured that no real legislative work has been done. The handling of the relationship between the executive and the legislature will be critical to much of the initiatives of the Buhari government. It is important to reiterate this point as most of the progress that has been made in the first 100days has been hinged on areas where President Buhari has a 100% prerogative of appointment. In the bigger picture, the government cannot run on the president’s personal influence alone and will require collaboration with other organs of government as well as a strong and determined team.

In a number critical areas where the president was expected to make good his campaign promises however, Nigerians have been disappointed. A key example is in the area of asset

declaration, which the president emphatically promised would be made public and for which Nigerians believe the first 100 days are sufficient for the fulfilment. The dilly-dallying on this promise as well as the attempts by presidential spokesmen to dissociate the president from such promises do not augur well.