EVERY PRESIDENT HAS A CABAL - BUHARI’S EX-CHIEF OF STAFF

EVERY PRESIDENT HAS A CABAL - BUHARI’S EX-CHIEF OF STAFF


Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, a former Chief of Staff to the late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has dismissed claims that a shadowy cabal hijacked power during Buhari’s administration, insisting that every president operates with an inner circle.

Gambari, a retired diplomat and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, made the clarification on Monday while appearing as a guest on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme. He reflected on governance under Buhari and addressed controversies surrounding the presidency.

“Every president had a cabal of a sort. You might call them the inner circle or the inner caucus. These are people who are close to them, have shared experiences, and can advise them directly. Sadly, some cabals may attempt to tell the president not what he needs to know, but what he wants to hear. They exist in every government, though their influence varies,” Gambari said.

He stressed that in Buhari’s case, the president’s leadership style placed clear limits on the influence of anyone around him. “Buhari had what I call creative stubbornness, similar to the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in terms of conviction and direction,” he noted.

Gambari also addressed one of the more unusual conspiracy theories of Buhari’s presidency — the claim that the former president had been replaced by a body double, nicknamed ‘Jibril of Sudan’. Laughing, he dismissed the claim, stating, “I had no doubt at all that he was the Buhari I knew in 1984 and now. The fact that some people believed it shows there are indeed individuals who think the worst about any president.”

He recounted discussions with Buhari about events in the 1980s and 1990s, highlighting the former president’s loyalty and leadership style.

Concluding, Gambari emphasised the importance of competent and loyal aides in ensuring effective governance. “A president, in many ways, can be only as good as the people who support and back him,” he said.

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