Buhari’s family, appointees narrate how a cabal controlled him, government

A biography has detailed how close associates of former President Muhammadu Buhari manipulated governance processes by issuing instructions to government officials, including security chiefs and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), without his approval.

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The book, “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,” was authored by Charles Omole and launched in Abuja on Monday.

Written at the prompting of Mr Buhari’s wife, Aisha Buhari, it featured contributions and interviews from Mr Buhari’s family, –Mrs Buhari and his children, Hadiza, Safina, Zahra, Halima, Hanan, and Amina– and some senior officials in his administration.

Their testimonies lent credence to the long-held notion that certain individuals control access to Mr Buhari, shielding him from some of his appointees and creating a bureaucratic gridlock while he was president.

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The Buhari years and Cabal whispers

The insinuations that a cabal controlled Mr Buhari’s government characterised his years in office. His wife, Aisha Buhari, repeatedly made the same claims public.

Those routinely fingered as members of the cabal include the president’s relative, Mamman Daura; his associate, Isa Funtua; and his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari. While Messrs Daura and Funtua held no official appointments in Mr Buhari’s government, they wielded enormous influence on the president. Mr Kyari, on the other hand, served as Mr Buhari’s chief of staff until his death in April 2020.

But the presidency under Mr Buhari would always dismiss the claims of a cabal as fictitious. One time, the presidency replied that the 200 million Nigerians are the cabal controlling the president.

‘Forged signatures’

In this book, Mr Buhari’s daughter, Fatima, said she found her father’s forged signature on official documents during his presidency, but she did not identify who she believed was forging the president’s signature.

“She warns that such a crime of forgery was not unique to this presidency; previous administrations experienced it too. However, the combination of a trusted gate, a culture of deference, and high stakes created the ideal environment for abuse during Buhari’s tenure,” the author wrote.

The cabal was so powerful, they routinely changed his speeches, for him to realise only when it’s time to deliver the speech, Fatima said.

She narrated an episode where Mr Buhari gave a speech in the United States in a room where she was. After the speech, she told him, ‘you were stopping,’ to which he responded that the text in his hand was not the one he approved. “Someone had altered it. It was not a rare occurrence,” he was quoted as saying.

Drawing from the interviews and contributions, the author explained that in a few cases where Mr Buhari was aware of the misconduct, he failed to take decisive actions that would send a clear signal and deter others.

This, the author wrote, undermined the daily integrity of governance and the president’s reputation by portraying him as either complicit in dubious directives or too weak to notice what was happening in his name.

Unapproved instructions

The book quoted an unnamed former police chief as confirming the pattern of instructions said to be from the president, but which are actually not. “Over time, he and his colleagues learned to verify,” he wrote.

“What started as a mere deference to kin and longstanding associates gradually passed ‘in his name’ to security chiefs; promises made regarding appointments and projects; and, in one particularly irritating case, manoeuvres around foreign exchange involving the central bank that were incorrectly linked back to presidential approval.”

The book described the late former president as one who trusts the words of old friends and relatives, assumes good faith and one “to look away from humiliation when discipline was required.”

“Gratitude for past loyalties, an aversion to public humiliation, and a lifetime habit of patience combined to dull the edge of discipline,” the author wrote.

During interviews with senior government officials and Mr Buhari’s family, the author said Messrs Daura and Funtua’s names regularly came up as those who exploited Mr Buhari’s trusting nature.

According to the author, Mr Buhari’s children became the line of defence, often presenting the facts to their father in some cases where he has been misled.

“They would cross-check claims, carry facts from outside the bubble, and gently but firmly present the truth to their father,” the author added.

When NSA angered ‘the cabal’

As National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno said he drew the ire of Mr Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Mr Kyari and Mr Daura, one of Mr Buhari’s close associates who wields immense influence in his government. Mr Daura heldno official position.

Mr Monguno told the author that both officials temporarily blocked the release of funds for the NSA even when the president had approved them.

He explained how it happened.

The Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet, who reports directly to the NSA, had brought to him a ‘procedural worry’ that the company supplying fuel for the fleet posed risks if indicted by a previous inquiry Mr Monguno had been a part of. The former NSA said he wrote to the president, attached the fleet commander’s memo and recommended changing the supplier. The president approved, and two days later, the Chief of Staff, Mr Kyari, became furious. ‘Why did you do this?’ he recalled Mr Kyari asking.

Soon after, he added, Mr Daura visited his residence, telling him the move was an ‘injustice’ to the fuel supplier and speculating about hidden motives. Although Mr Monguno explained the rationale for the decision, it did not end the rift, he said.

“From that point onwards, the NSA became persona non grata to Mamman Daura,” the author wrote.

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The Minister of Finance, who owed loyalty to Mamman Daura, was co-opted to withhold funds from the NSA office even after Mr Buhari’s approval.

“Buhari and Nigerians were both victims of the cabal that enriched itself beyond measure,” the author added.

“If the president’s first line in matters of security is the NSA, then starving the office is a way to blind the state. That, in Monguno’s telling, is what happened.”