When
protesters marched on Nigeria's presidential villa earlier this month
to complain about a biting recession, they were not repelled by
baton-wielding policemen, the usual fate for anyone arriving uninvited
at the gate of the country's power center.
Instead, Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, who is standing in for the country's sick
leader, sent a vehicle to ferry the protest leaders to his office, where
they complained about widespread corruption.
In a frank admission, Osinbajo acknowledged the government had failed to make as much progress fighting graft as it had hoped.
"We hear you loud and clear," he told the protesters.
President
Muhammadu Buhari has been in London for six weeks on medical leave,
raising questions over his capacity to govern Africa's largest economy.
In
his absence, diplomats and business leaders say the presidency has
acted with an energy rarely seen in the two years since Buhari, 74, was
elected.
Civil servants say they are handling heftier
workloads, while investors are praising a new, long-needed foreign
exchange policy. Meanwhile, diplomats say Osinbajo's inner circle is gaining influence inside the presidency. To
be sure, Osinbajo has made clear his loyalty lies with Buhari, a
retired general who has struggled to define a clear strategy to deal
with Nigeria's slide into recession and stands accused by opponents of
inaction.
But the 59-year-old lawyer is getting work done. He has
relaxed visa rules to lure foreign investors -- a plan drawn up by
Buhari but which like others got stuck in his chief of staff's office,
according to diplomats.
Officials in the Aso Rock presidential
complex in Abuja have seen their working hours extended to 7 p.m. when
Osinbajo leaves, or later. Buhari and his aides typically close shop at 4
p.m., officials said.
"This man is a workaholic," one
presidency insider said. "I wonder whether he rests at all because he
even shifts some of the meetings to his official residence."
"BACK ON TRACK"
Nigeria
tumbled into a full-year recession in 2016 for the first time in a
quarter of a century as a slump in crude oil revenues hammered the OPEC
member's public finances.
The Treasury has faced an acute
shortage of hard currency that has piled pressure on the Naira, which
still trades at a more-than 30 percent premium on the black market even
after policymakers effectively devalued the currency for private
individuals last Monday.
After stiff resistance from Buhari for a
full devaluation throughout last year. With the president absent, last
week's move was seen as testing the waters for a broader weakening.
The
central bank's move came after the National Economic Council, an
advisory body headed by the vice president, called for an urgent review.
"We
believe the reform agenda is back on track," said Bismarck Rewane, CEO
of Lagos consultancy Financial Derivatives. "The reform agenda has
always been there but is more visible now with the vice president," he
said.
The president's office has posted pictures on social media
of Buhari recuperating to allay rumors his health was worse than
publicly acknowledged, though none have been published for more than a
week.
For now, there is no clarity on when Buhari, from the predominantly Muslim north, will return.
Osinbajo's
leadership appears to have been accepted in the north, which under an
informal deal with the Christian south should have its turn at the helm
of power. And he has won praise from southerners who felt
neglected by Buhari, visiting both the commercial capital, Lagos, and
the oil producing Niger Delta on several occasions. Buhari has visited
neither as president.
Local residents say militant attacks on
pipelines in the Delta have fallen since Osinbajo promised to drag the
region out of poverty in a flurry of speeches.
Moreover, Osinbajo has showed himself to be swift to act.
On
one trip to Lagos' international airport, he challenged officials on
why the air conditioning and a luggage carousel were not working, and
even inspected the toilets. The next day he fired the bosses of
Nigeria's civil aviation.
Aides to Osinbajo stress that he is acting with Buhari's consent.
"President Buhari ... ensures that everyone falls in line," said Osinbajo's spokesman, Laolu Akande.
It
is a message that Buhari loyalists are quick to reinforce. The
president's political adviser, Babafemi Ojodu, said the two men spoke
every day.
"There is nothing that has been done since the vice
president started acting that is not something that started far back in
the past," said Ojodu.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-politics-idUSKBN16726E
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