Buhari: Cabal members knew his weak moments, smuggled memos to him – Gambari
by Ganiyu Mubarak · The Eagle OnlineA former Chief of Staff to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has revealed that members of the cabal in that era knew the weak moments of his former boss and used that period to smuggle memos to him.
Gambari, who spoke on a Channels Television programme: “Inside Sources With Laolu Akande,” said this was despite a stern warning by Buhari to that effect.
The former United Nations Special Envoy of Nigeria said: “They knew his weak moment.
“They knew when to smuggle (memos) because they knew him as they interacted with him informally.
Gambari, who served as Buhari’s CoS from May 13, 2020 to May 29, 2023 after the death of the initial appointee, Abba Kyari, added: “When I came as Chief of Staff to the President, he made a statement publicly.
“He said all memos must go through the Chief of Staff before coming to him.
“Even the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo), to his credit, always passed his memos through me and several ministers, but our people still got their memos to him from behind because they knew his weak point and who to use and he never stopped them, but the advantage I had was that the memos came back to me.”
Gambari said Buhari loved his appointees just as he loved Nigerians, and that accounted for why he was reluctant to sack members of his cabinet despite overwhelming calls in that direction.
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He described the two-term president as a compassionate man who served Nigeria with everything he had.
He confirmed that though Buhari had a group of powerful individuals who shaped his opinions and decisions on national issues, “they knew their limits”.
Gambari added: “They say there was a cabal, there was.
“Every government has a cabal.
“They may call them a kitchen cabinet.
“They may call them a think tank.
“(Former President Olusegun) Obasanjo had a group of people.
“The Aboyades of this world and others – a small group of people.
“It’s the nature of the office of the president that they must have some people in and out of government whom they can let their guard down to and talk to freely.
“Some have more powers than others, but I’m bold to say that every government has a cabal of some kind or another, whatever name it is called.
“So, there was (a cabal under Buhari).
“I was a minister 1984 to 1985, but I wasn’t privy to why he was removed by his colleagues.
“They put him there, but one of the reasons I’m told was the military people were resenting the fact that Head of State Buhari was now getting a lot of advice and second-guessing the decision of his military colleagues: the Supreme Military Council.”
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