Former Chief of Staff to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has revealed how some of the president’s closest aides routinely bypassed laid-down procedures within Aso Rock to gain direct access to Buhari, defying his official directive on internal communication.
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In an interview on Channels Television’s Inside Sources aired Friday, Gambari disclosed that despite Buhari’s clear instruction that all official memos must pass through the Chief of Staff, certain individuals within the presidency ignored the directive and smuggled documents directly to the president.
He said these aides took advantage of Buhari’s moments of vulnerability and long-standing personal relationships to send memos informally, thereby undermining the official structure of communication.
While acknowledging that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and several ministers complied with protocol by routing their memos through his office, Gambari pointed out that not everyone adhered to the rules. According to him, even when some of these unofficial memos made it to Buhari, they often found their way back to his desk for attention.
On the controversial issue of a so-called “cabal” in the presidency, Gambari maintained that every government has a form of inner circle or “kitchen cabinet”, a small group of trusted individuals, both within and outside government, who have the president’s ear and operate beyond the spotlight.
He added that such power blocs are not unique to Nigeria, emphasizing that it is part of the nature of the presidency for a leader to rely on a few people with whom they can be completely at ease.
Speaking further on Buhari’s leadership style, Gambari described the former president as someone who was extremely loyal to his appointees and often resisted calls to remove them from office, even when there were valid reasons or public pressure.
Reflecting on his previous role as a minister during Buhari’s military regime in the 1980s, Gambari said he had a deep understanding of the former president’s personality and approach to leadership one shaped by loyalty, discipline, and an aversion to abrupt changes.
