Influential Aso Rock aides to former President Muhammadu Buhari issued ‘fake presidential orders’ to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP; Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, on the eve of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primaries in 2023 to declare then Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s preferred candidate.
It was also revealed that the former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, instigated the removal of the then DG of the DSS, Lawal Daura.
This is as as a family dispute under Buhari’s administration led to firing of gunshot in the presidential villa by one of the policemen attached to the First Lady.
These among others were contained in the book titled: “From Soldier to Statesman: The legacy of Muhammadu Buhari”, authored by Dr. Charles Omole, which was launched yesterday at the State House Conference Hall, Abuja.
Roll call
The book launch was attended by President Bola Tinubu; the Gambian President, Adama Barrow; the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima.
Governors, royal fathers, former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, her families and some aides of the former president were also in attendance.
In the book, it was revealed that some aides of the former President had approached the IGP, DSS and NIA with a “fake presidential order’ to install the then President of the Senate as the APC presidential candidate.
The book quoted the former IGP Alkali Baba of revealing the purported Buhari’s order as was carried by some influential individuals to the three security bodies to install Lawan as the parties presidential candidate.
Buhari’s ‘order’
According to the book: “The IGP recalls a quiet meeting in the run-up to the 2023 general elections: the National Security Adviser, the Service Chiefs, the Director-General of the State Security Service, and himself were present.
“The President addressed them plainly. He was going to the ruling party’s last caucus meeting and would say, once again, that Nigerians should be allowed to vote for whom they wanted.
“Their job, he said, was to ensure the security that would make that choice real, and he would provide the funding to do it.
“There was nothing performative about the instruction. It was, rather, the culmination of a stance Buhari had taken repeatedly and, at times, at cost to his own party’s short-term comfort – elections must be credible; citizens must choose.”
On the fake presidential order, the book revealed: “Perhaps the most notable episode in the IGP’s account concerns the APC party presidential primaries in Abuja.
“It is a story more about discipline than about drama, and about a President reluctant to turn the security services into a political weapon.
“On the morning before the primaries, some influential figures – people ‘close to the President,’ as the IGP describes – approached three security chief officials: the IGP, Director-General of DSS, and DG, NIA.
“They relayed apresidential ‘order’ to the trio to deploy security forces to install Sen. Lawan as the APC Presidential candidate, as the consensus candidate. A meeting was even scheduled, a manoeuvre that relies on proximity to power and the intimidation of uniforms.
“Alkali Baba refused. He told his colleagues he would not participate. So, the trio decided to seek an urgent audience with the President.
“When they were escorted in, the IGP led the way (prompted by the other two) while keeping a professional tone. They informed the President that security for the convention at Eagle Square was arranged.
“Then, they asked, ‘Is there any other instruction, sir?’ He had none. The expectation that Buhari would repeat the supposed ‘order’ attributed to him did not occur.
“Then, with careful diplomacy, the IGP raised the question that had prompted their emergency meeting.
“‘From his residence’, he said, ‘he could hear celebrations in the neighbourhood (the IGP is next door to the official guest house of the Senate President, Lawan) over reports that the President had endorsed Lawan as his candidate’.
“The President laughed, and then he made it clear: he had not anointed anyone. He repeated what he had always said – Nigerians should choose. And they are not to interfere with the wishes of the party voters.”
The book stated that outside the president’s inner office, those who had tried to “choreograph the charade” were waiting.
“The IGP told them exactly what had transpired: the President had no candidate, there would be no manipulation from the Villa through the security service.
This again shows how people close to Buhari exploited his trust and misrepresented him to harm the nation, without Buhari’s knowledge.”
IGP’s removal
On the removal of DSS DG by the then acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the book said: “One of the earliest tests of Buhari’s restraint came during the removal of Lawal Daura as DG SSS, an episode that could easily have devolved into a battle of egos.
“When then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was acting president, he decided to remove Daura.
Pressure followed for a presidential reversal. Buhari refused to interfere. He had handed executive authority to his vice president while away; to countermand Osinbajo would be, in Bichi’s words, an ‘insult to his vice, and an inti-institutional order.
“We can also reveal that the First Lady Aisha Buhari, was a major instigator for the removal of the SSS boss.”
Family squabble
The book revealed that “the Villa witnessed gunfire; not a coup, not an insurgent raid, but a family dispute that spiralled when ‘one lousy policeman’ fired shots.”
It explained Buhari’s CSO Abubakar Idris “had the officer arrested and detained.
The incident was messy for many reasons, not least the officer’s connection to the First Lady. The CSO handled the matter professionally, then stepped back when it became clear that reconciliation within the First Family was necessary.
“But accountability did not stop at the rank and file. The President, presented with a clear account of who had orchestrated the chaos, directed consequences close to home.
“A nephew was told, in essence, to pack his things and leave this house. For a leader accused so often of lethargy, this was a clarifying moment. Blood ties did not shield misconduct once the facts were laid bare.”
