Prof Ibrahim Gambari, the former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has shed light on the informal methods some officials used to circumvent established memo protocols and communicate directly with the president. Gambari revealed that although Buhari had publicly instructed that all internal memos pass through his Chief of Staff, some close aides had identified vulnerabilities in the system and exploited them.
“They knew his weak moment, they knew when to smuggle (memos) because they knew him as they interacted with him informally,” Gambari explained during his recent interview on Channels Television.
Gambari, who served from May 2020 to May 2023 after the death of the late Abba Kyari, recounted how Buhari required every memo, including those from the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and several ministers, to pass through his office. However, he conceded that certain actors still managed to bypass his quarantine and send memos directly to Buhari. The advantage Gambari held was that these memos were returned to his office following presidential consideration.
In the broader context of governance, Gambari addressed the widespread narrative about a powerful cabal within Buhari’s administration. He affirmed, “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.”
Drawing on past administrations, Gambari cited former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s trusted advisors as evidence that such groups are an expected feature of presidential governance, serving as trusted interlocutors with privileged access.
Reflecting on Buhari’s approach to leadership, Gambari noted the president’s significant loyalty to his appointees and his general reluctance to dismiss any, even under intense pressure. Gambari’s personal experience with Buhari stretches back to the 1980s, when he served as foreign affairs minister during Buhari’s military rule, giving him long-standing insight into the president’s governing style.