IF there is anything history cannot deny Muhammadu Buhari of as Nigeria’s leader, it is his firm commitment to one of the most honourable transitional plans we have seen since 1999. Last week, Buhari mandated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SFG, Boss Mustapha, to announce a 22-member Transition Committee whose job is to seamlessly wind up his government for a smooth handover to the next regime. That committee will be inaugurated today, Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at the State House, Abuja.

Way back in December 2022, Buhari had mooted his desire for an early handover preparation. Unlike some of his predecessors, Buhari had proactively made it clear to political jobbers that he had no intention of toying with the Constitution. The manner in which he is going about his handover scheme will also shut down the rumours of a plot for an unconstitutional “Interim Government” being pushed by some unpatriotic and faceless individuals.

By taking early steps to arrange for an orderly retreat from power, Buhari is following in the commendable footsteps of his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan, who set up the Pius Anyim Transitional Committee on transition after he was voted out in 2015.

When the Anyim Committee completed its assignment, the Ahmed Joda Committee was also empanelled to do further work on it. The President-elect at the time, Muhammadu Buhari, also set up a committee of his party’s technical hands to sift through the 800-page document produced by Joda’s group. It was an elaborate process, though Buhari later falsely claimed he did not inherit any transitional document from Jonathan’s government. We find it historically interesting that Buhari only started offering the best of himself at the tail end of his administration. Nigerians started having a whiff of the old Buhari they had voted for in 2015 (at least in some areas) just 18 months or so before his handover. In January 2022, he finally gave his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill whereby technology minimised human interference in our electoral process.

Buhari also approved the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira redesign policy(though being poorly implemented) which was meant to impact positively on the economy and the regime’s avowed commitment to conduct credible general elections in 2023. If his government is able to achieve a free and fair election and the people’s genuine choice emerges to replace him, he will be well remembered for it. We, however, call on the president to work harder on making the currency policy a success. He must continue to stand firm against undue pressures by desperate politicians to dance to their tune at the people’s expense.