Alleges
President’s relatives dictate Aso Rock policy
Muhammadu
Buhari’s relatives are the ones dictating policy in Aso Rock for 170 million
Nigerians, adding nepotism to the festering allegation of narrow mindedness
levelled against the president, who critics say surrounds himself with
Northerners in running national affairs.
Junaid
Mohammed, radical politician and Second Republic lawmaker, named at least seven
relatives of the president who are the power behind the throne in the Villa –
apart from the heads of all vital security agencies who are from the North.
In a
telephone interview with TheNiche from his base in Kano, Mohammed accused
Buhari of giving key positions to his cousins, nephews, and in-laws, and is
therefore guilty of the corruption he is trying to fight.
Mohammed,
a virulent critic of former President Goodluck Jonathan, and originally a
supporter of Buhari, said nepotism compromises Buhari’s ability to rule the
country well, fight corruption, and deal with rogue lawmakers who pose a threat
to his administration.
BUHARI’S RELATIVES IN ASO ROCK
NAMES POSITION NATURE OF
RELATIONSHIP
Mamman Daura Principal Adviser Son
of Buhari’s elder brother
Abba Kyari Chief of Staff Adopted son of Buhari’s nephew
Hadi Sinka Minister of Water Resources Son
of Buhari’s elder sister
Amina Zakari INEC Commissioner (N.E) Duaghter of Buhari’s elder sister
Lawal Abubakar ADC Married to Buhari’s niece
Aisha Abubakar Minister of
State Trade In-law to Buhari nephew
Kabir
Daura P.A to President Son
of Buhari’s nephew
His
words: “As far as I am concerned, nothing will come by way of contention with
the National Assembly (NASS) and the executive branch, because both of them
have a mindset which is completely antithetical to democracy.
“Both
the president, particularly his principal adviser, his nephew, one nonentity
called Mamman Daura; then the Chief of Staff [Abba Kyari], who in fact was
brought up by Mamman Daura; and the scoundrel who is the Secretary to the
Government of Federation [Babachir David], including most of the incompetent ministers,
are not cut out to work harmoniously in a political environment with the
legislature.
“On the
legislative side, they want to continue business as usual; that will mean
impunity, blackmail, open corruption to extort money from ministries, departments
and agencies of federal and state governments, because they did not come into
politics to serve.
“They
came to make money. That is the basic fact.
“You
can see why it is impossible for anybody, no matter how reasonable, to work
with the National Assembly, especially the Senate, because unless you are
prepared to open up the national treasury and offer it to them, there is going
to be no peace between the executive branch and them.
“And of
course, there is the unfortunate, additional bad luck of Buhari being
surrounded by his own relations who are not politicians. They are not even
members of the APC (All Progressives Congress) but dictate policy, especially
Mamman Daura. So I can see no peace, I can see no cooperation, and God save
Nigeria.”
Buhari’s
relatives calling shots in Aso Rock
Mohammed
said Buhari must apply the law equitably and justly in his fight against
corruption and insurgents such as Boko Haram and Niger Delta Avengers
(NDA).
“He has
to do that, and listen more to Nigerians, and not this arrogant posture, and
the crooks he appointed into cabinet.
“But
unfortunately, for the country and for Buhari’s legacy himself, he has packed
the government, and especially the Presidency, which is really the centre of
power, and made it top heavy with his own relations.
“There
are many people who are his own cousins in the Presidency. In my own
understanding of history and politics, this is what you call nepotism. And if
you are against corruption, you cannot be nepotistic.
“So it
is really a contradiction for Buhari to have, for example a nephew of his, the
son of his elder sister as the Minister of Water Resources [Hadi Sirika].
“He has
another niece of his, the elder sister of [Sirika], who is now a national
commissioner in the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), Amina
Zakari.
“They
are trying to bury their tracks. But Buhari nominated her even before he became
president when Jonathan asked him to nominate somebody to represent the North
West (in INEC) and he chose that woman.
“And
then this nonentity, Mamman Daura, virtually runs the government. He has a veto
power. There have been instances when Buhari gave written approval for things
to be done, and that man went and stymied, threw the paper away.
“He has
become such a tyrant in the Presidency. He is a nephew to Buhari. His father is
the elder brother of Buhari, even though the (age) difference between them is
about three years, his father is an elder brother to Buhari and they grew up
together.
“[Abba
Kyari] was brought up by Mamman Daura. His father left him with Mamman Daura to
go to Borno, his original state where he was a village head.
“And
for all intents and purposes, he is a son of Mamman Daura. He is now the chief
of staff to Buhari. His name is Abba Kyari.
“Then
[Kabir Daura] the personal assistant to Buhari himself, is the son of Mamman
Daura.
“And
the girl [Aisha Abubakar] who was picked out of nowhere from Sokoto. She is not
a member of the APC. She has nothing to do with anybody.
“She
was picked and made a minister by Mamman Daura and Buhari because her mother is
the younger sister of Mamman Daura’s wife.
“And
then the ADC (Aide de Camp) to Buhari is married to the granddaughter of
Buhari’s elder sister. His name is Colonel Lawan Abubakar.
“Now
with this bloody mess and this disarray and terrible scandal, how can Buhari
hope to keep the country in check, and fight corruption and the
terrorists?
“It
can’t be done; because to fight corruption, you must be above board. You must
be absolutely in the clear. You don’t go underground to appoint your nephews
and say you are being smart. He is just being smart by half.
“These
are the core problems of Buhari and not the National Assembly. The National
Assembly can be dealt with if he is absolutely above board, and if they know
they have nothing on him or his nephews, cousins, and many of his relations who
are now institutionalised in the government and in the most important part of
government, the Presidency.
“And
that explains some of the statements [former President Olusegun] Obasanjo has
been making, metaphorical statements.
“He
said corruption always begins in the Presidency. He was referring to Buhari’s
presidency.
“Because
when Obasanjo was in power himself and Atiku (Abubakar), they were accused of
being corrupt and the world media said corruption always began in the
presidency. So nobody should fool us.
Alleged
sleaze in Buhari’s kitchen cabinet
Mohammed
stressed that Buhari is not corrupt but many of his relations are suspects in
corruption scandals.
“Only
four days ago (June 20), Sahara Reporters – and it has not been denied – said a
company called Sahara Energy is lifting crude oil in the name of both Mamman
Daura and Abba Kyari.
“What
is interesting about the company is that it used to be owned by the boyfriends
of Diezani [Alison-Maduekwe, former petroleum minister] and she used to give
them very generous crude oil lifting contracts.
“Sadly,
in this government, which is supposed to be anti-anything that Diezani stands
for, we have Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari being mentioned by an internet
newspaper as using the same company in lifting crude oil.
“Now
the question is who is fooling who? Are we being told that Diezani’s former
boyfriends, Omokore and Aluko, have moved on, and in their place is Mamman
Daura and Abba Kyari? What is happening?
Mohammed
also wondered why Buhari despite the corruption scandal of the last
administration, allowed Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefile,
who was a member of the last administration, to remain in office.
“And
throughout this serious scandals of corruption, the source of the monetary
scandal has been only two places.
“One is
the Central Bank because it was from the Central Bank the money was being taken
either to the office of the National Security Adviser [Sambo Dasuki] or to PDP
(Peoples Democratic Party) headquarters or to certain individuals.
“But it
was always from the Central Bank.
“Buhari
himself said at the beginning of his term that he had evidence and knows there
was a time when [Emefiele] picked a piece of paper and wrote and instructed
that N14 billion should be withdrawn from the Central Bank, and the N14 billion
was withdrawn.
“Yet
that man, under Buhari is still the governor of the Central Bank. Buhari has
not sacked him, and Buhari is now more than one year in office. The question is
that who is the power behind the governor of the Central Bank?
“The
other source of money is the money from the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation) because the NNPC has several accounts, most of them in foreign
currencies: dollars, euros, yuan, pounds sterling.
“After
Diezani left, I don’t know on whose advice Buhari picked some innocuous,
incompetent, irresponsible Igbo man from Delta State [Ibe Kachikwu] and
appointed him minister of state for petroleum. But in actual fact, he runs the
ministry on day-to-day basis.
“In
addition, this man was also appointed by the same Buhari, who is supposed to
know the industry well, as the managing director of the NNPC. “And because
Nigerians don’t know or don’t care to know or maybe they are not interested,
the position of the MD of the NNPC is a civil service appointment for
technocrats and what have you.
“But a
ministerial appointment, whether a senior or junior minister, is a political
appointment.
“How
Buhari decided in his arrogance to combine the job of the MD and the minister
in one man whom nobody has ever heard of and gave him those positions, is a
mystery to us. Who again is the power behind this man?
“To add
insult to injury, the Igbo now started shouting that they have not been given
what they call lucrative appointments.
“They
have the Central Bank, where most of the money come from, they have the
minister of petroleum, and then the MD of the NNPC.
“They
have their normal slots of ministerial appointments. And they are still
shouting that they have not been given lucrative appointments.
“And
Buhari is quiet, apparently he is under pressure from some people, particularly
the Mamman Dauras and some of the rogues and scoundrels who are always around
whenever somebody is in government. Now this is the tragedy of Nigeria
today.
“Buhari
is performing marginally in the fight against terrorism, particularly Boko
Haram terrorism. He is doing nothing, in fact what he is doing in the South
South is appeasement, open and shameful appeasement in the Niger Delta.
“It
shows that even among Nigerians, some are more equal than others, according to
Buhari’s government.
Abba
Kyari sits on Magu’s confirmation letter
Mohammed
said although Buhari has been making progress in the fight against corruption,
the credit for that effort goes to acting EFCC Chairman, Mustapha Magu, and not
really the presidency.
He was
appointed on November 9, 2015 and has still not been confirmed.
“These
are the boys [EFCC personnel] who are doing the job and they are doing it very
well.
“In
fact they are doing it so well that Mamman Daura, Abba Kyari and Babachir David
and some other people around Buhari are determined to get rid of Mustapha Magu
because he took on this mysterious Sahara Energy Oil Company and froze the
account.
“The
directors of the company include Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari. That is why they
are now after the EFCC, particularly the chairman.
“Magu
has been on acting appointment since Buhari came. Buhari has for months given
approval for his situation to be regularised to be made permanent chairman.
Abba Kyari has been sitting on the paper for over three months.
“Buhari
cannot tell him to submit the paper. So who is ruling us?
Mohammed
argued that in a democracy, the likes of Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari should not
be given the right to take decision.
“They
have no mandate. None of them has ever won an election in his life. I knew in
1979 when we were going to the National Assembly, Mamman Daura wanted to be a
senator for the area east of Katsina which include Daura.
“Because
Daura itself is too small a village and too small a district to provide a
senator, they had to cut a portion of eastern Katsina to merge with it.
“The
people of Katsina said ‘we understand your situation. You are minority in
Katsina and the old Kaduna State. We would vote for you en masse, but don’t
bring Mamman Daura.
‘“Anybody
in the whole of the area, yes, but not Mamman Daura. We don’t want any member
of the Kaduna Mafia in the National Assembly or in any forum in Nigeria to
represent us.’
“And
that was how Mamman Daura was thrown out and a friend of mine called Abba Ali
became the senator from that area.
“Now
this is the same Mamman Daura who is exercising so much power simply because
his uncle Buhari is the president.
“Nigerians
should start asking the correct questions instead of messing themselves up
using tribalism and religion and other nonsense.”
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