Buhari to discipline key aide for undermining the vice president and heating up the polity

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari plans to discipline a top member of his kitchen cabinet thought to be his chief of staff Alhaji Abba Kyari for mischievously re-wording the handover note the presidency sent to the National Assembly omitting the phrase acting president.

On May 8, President Buhari returned to the UK for medical treatment and in line with the constitutional provision, wrote to the National Assembly handing over the reins of government to Professor Osinbajo. However, in a departure from the norm, the letter sent by the president's office omitted the key wording that the vice president will act as the head of government, just stating that he will coordinate the affairs of government in the president's absence.

This letter, which was released as President Buhari departed has sparked a lot of controversy, with some members of the National Assembly saying it should be rejected. Some legal experts say it creates a vacuum as it does not specifically point out that Professor Osinbajo is now the acting president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Angered and embarrassed by the controversy,  President Buhari has decided to act and there were indications last night, that the aide, who has already courted many controversies, might be probed for his latest action. One top government source said that the latest offence that got President Buhari very upset, as the move by the said aide sought to breach the clear provisions of the constitution regarding the transfer of power to the vice president.

In addition, President Buhari was said to be unhappy about the fact that the said official deliberately refused to share information about his impending departure with other key aides like the national security adviser, media aides and even the Office of the Vice President. It was not until the day of his departure that President Buhari himself kept asking about the whereabouts of his vice, prompting his aides to hurriedly put a call to Professor Osinbajo.

President Buhari also personally called senate president Bukola Saraki, speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara and the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, to meet him at the Villa before his departure. It was here that he informed all of them of his impending departure.

One presidential source said: “The president actually insisted on calling the top government officials to come over to his residence that night to meet with him before his departure to ensure that there was clear understanding that he was travelling and he wanted every relevant official of the administration to know about his trip and to demonstrate his full compliance with the laws of Nigeria. Mr President did not want to be dictated to by the said official, who had earlier suggested to him that the transfer of power to the vice president should be limited, while he should be empowered to act as a liaison between the presidency and the National Assembly, during Buhari’s absence.

“In fact, the man in question had actually drafted a letter meant for the president’s signature two days to Buhari’s departure stating that the powers of the acting president be limited while he be authorised to coordinate things in a broad sense until Buhari returns. In the letter drafted by the controversial official for Buhari to sign, the officer also suggested that Osinbajo be restrained from taking any action on the economy, foreign currency operations and the Central Bank of Nigeria among other strategic agencies of the government pending the return of Buhari.”

Apparently, President Buhari shocked the aide by promptly rejecting the suggestions by taking the unprecedented bold step to personally meet with his vice and the National Assembly leaders and brief them on the transfer of power before leaving Nigeria for the UK. It was at the meeting that President Buhari pointedly asked Professor Osinbajo to take full control of the administration and to have a free hand to run the government until his return to Nigeria.

Senior government sources hinted that the president himself might have started losing confidence in the said aide when he constituted the panel which probed the suspended Secretary to give Government of the Federation and the director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, without involving the beleaguered aide.  On that particular occasion, unlike before, President Buhari personally drafted the statement in conjunction with his media aides announcing the suspension of the two men and the composition of a panel to probe them without the knowledge of the aide in question.