Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has revealed that he was left in a state of profound shock just six months into Muhammadu Buhari’s first term as president. In a candid reflection on the early days of the administration that swept into power in 2015, Oyegun disclosed that the "stern disciplinarian" the party expected was replaced by a leader determined to prove his democratic credentials at any cost.
Speaking Friday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time, Oyegun described a pivotal one-on-one meeting he sought with the then-president after growing "fairly alarmed" by the slow pace of governance. According to Oyegun, the Nigerian public had been waiting for the "new sheriff" to crack down on systemic indiscipline, but the reality inside the Presidential Villa was vastly different from the expectations of the party leadership.
"Six months or less into our assuming office, fairly alarmed, I went to the late President Buhari for a one-on-one talk," Oyegun said. He recalled telling the president directly that the administration was not delivering on the urgent promises made to Nigerians. The response he received, however, fundamentally changed his outlook on the future of that government.
The former APC chairman, who now serves as the Chairman of the Policy Manifesto Committee for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), revealed that Buhari claimed to have "learnt his lesson" from his stint as a military head of state in the 1980s. Buhari reportedly told him that he did not want to rule with his former strictness, choosing instead to demonstrate to the world that he was a "true civilian president in an agbada."
This shift toward a more passive, hands-off style of leadership deeply troubled the party chairman. Oyegun admitted that as he left the meeting, he felt a sense of impending failure for the administration's reform agenda. "By the time we finished the conversation, I said, 'Oh God, we are finished.' Because if he's not ready to be strict, what's the point?" Oyegun remarked.
The veteran politician lamented that this decision by Buhari allowed the bureaucratic machinery to return to "business as usual". He suggested that while the faces in Aso Rock had changed, the fundamental culture of the Nigerian government remained stagnant because the president refused to exercise the firm authority his supporters had campaigned for.
Critics of the Buhari era have frequently cited the "slow" start of his first term—including a six-month delay in appointing a cabinet—as a turning point that dampened the "change" momentum of 2015. Oyegun’s latest comments provide a rare, high-level confirmation that this delay was rooted in a deliberate attempt by Buhari to shed his "dictator" persona, even at the expense of administrative efficiency.