Buba Galadima (born 1948) is a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
politician who was National Secretary of the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party formed in the run-up to the 2011 national elections as a leading platform for former military ruler and
President of Nigeria
The president of Nigeria, officially the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the Federal Government an ...
General
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...
. He was the Spokesperson of the
People's Democratic Party.
Background
Buba Galadima an engineer by profession, is a graduate of
Ahmadu Bello University
The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...
, Zaria. He hails from Gashua,
Yobe State
Yobe is a States of Nigeria, state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu, and its largest city by populati ...
.
He participated in the 1994/95 Constitutional Conference.
Galadima was Director General of the
Nigeria Maritime Authority (NMA) from 1996 to 1998.
Political career
During the
Nigerian Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. Nigeria adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 29 May 1999.
Founding
Foll ...
, established in May 1999, Galadima became the chieftain of the leading opposition party, the
All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP). In June 2002, Galadima was interviewed on a proposal by President
Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...
to restructure local governments in the country. He expressed his party's opposition to the move. He said that Obasanjo, "the usurper president of this country", was trying to sneak in the changes surreptitiously, giving state governors the right to appoint unelected officials to run the local governments, but also introducing Consultative Assemblies for regions and thus undermining the powers of the states.
On 29 April 2004, Galadima was arrested in
Abuja
Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
by officers from the State Security Services (SSS).
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
expressed concern that he was at risk of torture or ill-treatment.
As chairman of the mobilization committee of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) Galadima had planned to be involved in an anti-government protest which took place on 3 May in Abuja and
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
.
He was released without charge on 13 May.
After the 21 April 2007, presidential election, the Supreme Court heard various charges of impropriety. Galadima, National Campaign Secretary of The Buhari Organisation (TBO), claimed that the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was trying to frame Buhari with false claims about the sources of his campaign funding.
He said the PDP was plotting "to take them
pposition leadersout of circulation so that they can continue with their misdeeds against the Nigerian people unnoticed".
When ethnic violence broke out in
Jos, Plateau State in November 2008, with the death toll rising above 350, Galadima called for a declaration of emergency rule in the state to stop the killing and maiming by thugs, who he said seemed to be armed by the state government. TBO called for an independent Judicial Enquiry Panel to look into the cause of the crisis.
In November 2009, Galadima said that if the government failed to reform the State Security Service (SSS), the result could be "chaotic, anarchic and violence prone 2011 elections". This repeated a statement made by SSS Director General
Afakiriya Gadzama. The SSS arrested and interrogated Galadima on the grounds that his statement was a call for violent change.
He is one of the nine signatories that signed the merger agreement between the three political parties that came together, with a faction of
All Progressives Grand Alliance
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is a Nigerian political party formed in June 2002 and has governed the South eastern state of Anambra since 2003.
Electoral history
At the Nigerian parliamentary election, 2003, legislative elections ...
(APGA),
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC),
All Nigeria Peoples Party
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria.
The ANPP was a household party in the extreme north of Nigeria, primarily due to its mass appeal among more religious voters. It was the strongest opposition party, controllin ...
(ANPP) and
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to form the
All Progressives Congress
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...
(APC).
In a 2015 interview, Galadima stated: "No politician has ever suffered the kind of calamities I went through in the country. I was arrested, detained and harassed for about 38 times. And I never changed, even under such a pitiable conditions, I stood my ground as a patriotic, loyal and honest democrat".
Galadima voiced his concerns over attempts to scheme out northern Christians from holding one of the presiding positions of the National Assembly, namely speaker of the House of Representatives. Eventually, Members of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
elected Hon.
Yakubu Dogara, who represents Bogoro/ Tafawa Balewa federal constituency in Bauchi state, as the Speaker of the 8th Assembly.
CPC leader
The Congress for Progressive Change originated in The Buhari Organization (TBO) formed in 2006 by General
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...
, a former military ruler of Nigeria, and his associates. After falling out with the ANPP, Buhari decided that he needed a new platform to support his political ambitions.
The Congress for Progressive Change filed an application to register with the
Independent National Electoral Commission Independent National Electoral Commission may refer to:
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Burundi)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Guinea)
The Inde ...
(INEC) on 26 March 2009, and received official approval and registration on 28 December 2009.
Galadima was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the CPC.
[
In October 2010, he accused the ]Independent National Electoral Commission Independent National Electoral Commission may refer to:
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Burundi)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Guinea)
The Inde ...
(INEC) of having lost the will to be truly independent. Stakeholders including the CPC and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) had agreed with proposals to use biometric data capturing machines for registration of voters and accreditation during the election, to hold all elections on one day and to move elections to April without changing the 29 May handover date. However, the INEC chairman Attahiru Jega had only submitted the last proposed change for ratification by the National Assembly.
On 12 December 2010, he said that anyone in the CPC who wanted to run for office should resign from the party's executive committees.
The most senior people who would not be standing for election would take over to run the party.[
This was consistent with his opposition to a proposal by which senators and member of the House of Representatives would automatically become members of the National Executive Committee of their party. While he said the decision was up to the parties, not a question of electoral law, he felt the move would be undemocratic since the elected politicians would look only to their own interests.
In January 2011, Galadima was chosen as National Secretary of the CPC, with Tony Momoh as chairman.
Following the presidential election in April 2011, Galadima said the vote was rigged and the CPC would not accept the results until a complete audit had been conducted.
The INEC had announced that ]Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...
of the PDP had won 22,495,187 votes, while Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC had won just 12,214,853.
There were outbreaks of violence across Northern Nigeria after the elections, with many deaths.
The "Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice" announced that it had petitioned the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
at the Hague to file criminal charges against Buhari and Galadima for inciting the killings. The CPC in turn accused Goodluck Jonathan of using the violence to make political gains against the CPC.
Spokesperson to the PDP
In 2017, he decamped to PDP and was named as one of the spokespersons of the PDP. On February 24, 2019, twenty four hours after the2019 presidential elections was conducted, Galadima announced on his social media handles that Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar (; born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. He ran for the office of governor of Adamawa State i ...
had won the elections, even while results were still being collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission Independent National Electoral Commission may refer to:
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Burundi)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*Independent National Electoral Commission (Guinea)
The Inde ...
. Due to his actions, the All Progressives Congress
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...
(APC) Presidential Campaign Council demanded Galadima be arrested. Few hours after he posted the video, he was supposedly arrested by masked security operatives.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galadima, Buba
Living people
Nigerian Muslims
Year of birth missing (living people)
Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians