President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari is a man
many claims wields too much power in the Presidency. Amongst the
President’s top allies, Kyari may not be the one with the most damning
allegation hanging around him, but his name sure comes up in
controversies more often than the others, just like the recent case
where he was attacked by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno
for meddling in national security issues.
The allegations which have stirred up a series of debates on social
media concerning the powers that this Borno-State bred man has in the
Presidential Villa. A legal luminary, banker and seasoned technocrats,
Kyari always gets the ears of the President following years of
association, but his frequent scandals have forced Nigerians to ask why
the President is unable to part ways with him like he did when his
former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal was
caught in a controversial contract scam.
Below are some of the controversies that Kyari has been involved in:
Kyari Allegedly Receives Bribe From MTN
In 2016, following a fine Nigeria’s telecoms regulator, Nigeria
Communications Commission, NCC placed on South African telecommunication
giant, MTN, for failing to disconnect unregistered phone lines bought
before January 2012, Kyari was accused of collecting N500million bribe
from the company to reduce the fine from N.04 trillion to N330billion.
The allegation was never proven to be true as even Kyari took the pain
to demand that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian
Police Force investigate him. He also charged MTN to confirm or deny the
allegation since the company was specifically mentioned. MTN
subsequently denied the report,
Kyari Heads ‘Cabal’ In The Villa
Since the inception of the Buhari administration, there has been
the consistent talk of a certain cabal in Aso Rock that has been
controlling the President like a puppet. One name that has been
consistently linked with the said cabal has been that of Kyari. The talk
of cabal dominated discussions, especially at the height of the
President’s ill-health and medical vacation in London. According to
reports, no decision is carried out until after the approval of the
cabal.
Kyari Rift With First Lady, Aisha Buhari
Confirming the existence of a cabal, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari
had in the early part of her husband's administration talked about a
group of people holding the Presidency hostage by dictating what happens
in the Villa. The President's wife is also said to not be in good terms
with Kyari following the substitution of her preferred ministerial
candidate from Adamawa State, Brigadier Buba Marwa (rtd) by the CoS.
Kyari is alleged to have unilaterally constituted the ministerial
nominee list with very little contribution from the President.
Kyari Blocked Kachikwu’s Access To Buhari
In 2017, then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr
Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu raised an alarm how Kyari and his men were
blocking him from seeing the President over matters relating to the
ministry her coordinated on behalf of the President. In 2019, Kachikwu
failed to get reappointed in Buhari's cabinet and some claim his fate
was determined the moment he crossed the all-powerful CoS.
Kyari’s Appointment On NNPC Board
Many were shocked when President Buhari in July of 2016 named a new
board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which
included Kyari. Nigerians have never stopped wondering how the
President’s CoS’ name made it to the list with many suspecting a case of
nepotism.
Kyari's Daughter's Controversial Appointment In NSIA
Another moment of controversy that trails the CoS was the secret
appointment of his daughter, Miss Aisha Abba Kyari, as an Assistant Vice
President at the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). The
controversy around the appointment include the fact that the position
was never publicly advertised and that Miss Kyari does not meet the
criteria for the role and yet she got the appointment.
Kyari Allegedly Extorts Ex-DG Of NIA
In 2018, a former Acting Director-General (DG) of the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Dauda, levelled some grave
corruption allegations against Kyari and others. Dauda detailed in a
brief sent to the House of Representatives Committee on National
Security and Intelligence how Kyari along with Ambassador Babagana
Kingibe, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),
kept pressuring him to share a certain $44billion that was cooling in
NIA’s account. Dauda also claimed Kyari and Kingibe would ask him to
hand over money for medical treatment or holiday trips abroad for their
families and girlfriends.
Kyari Undermines Osinbajo’s Position
It has been alleged also, how Kyari has often capitalised on his
closeness with the President to undermine the powers of the Vice
President, Yemi Osinbajo. Foremost online news platform, Premium Times
reported how Kyari influenced the President to discard Osinbajo's
request for approval for funds to continue his role in resolving the
deadly farmers-herdsmen crisis. Kyari was said to approach the President
with a similar proposal after rubbishing Osinbajo's request before the
President.
In September of 2019 when Buhari announced the scrapping of the
Economic Management Team (EMT) which Osinbajo chaired and replaced with
the Economic Advisory Council (EAC), Kyari was fingered. And when the
President sacked over 30 of Osinbajo's aides, fingers pointed at Kyari
again.
Kyari Meddles In National Security Matters
Recently, a memo leaked by Premium Times showed the National
Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno accusing Kyari of unwholesome and
dangerous interference in national security matters. Mungono, among
other things, accused Kyari of issuing directives to the Service Chiefs,
sometimes without the knowledge and approval of the President. Kyari
was also accused of hampering efforts to solve the problem of insecurity
in the country with his meddlesomeness.
It is not clear what sort of hold Kyari has on the President that
he always gets his attention and never seems to do any wrong in the
President’s sight. Suspected to be the head of the alleged cabal running
the Presidency, Kyari certainly has got many Nigerians on social media
in the recent days insisting he may be the ‘real’ president of the
country and Buhari acting as a figure head.
Victor Enengedi
kuffz999@yahoo.com
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