When will Buhari touch his roguish anointeds? When will these charades stop? Abba Kyari poses a direct challenge to Nigeria’s democracy, because he embodies the empty promise of Buhari’s anti-corruption fight. For a man whose animating ideology is money by any means and whose power relations can be charitably characterised as arrogant, Nigeria is indeed in trouble!


Chief of staff to the president, Abba Kyari is a malignant force in the Buhari administration. Behind his smile is a transparent gossamer of contrived ability that has immunised him from his failures. He is the egotistical face of the presidential triumvirate and unholy trinity created by Buhari, as a protective cocoon of the familiar and trusted. Abba Kyari is the powerful devil-may-care point man of the committee of “public safety”, along with Babagana Kingibe and Mamman Daura. The bloodless coup leading to President Buhari’s abdication is akin to the Coup of 18 Brumaire in which Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew himself by staging a coup within a coup, to become the first consul of France, thus setting the stage for the end of the French revolution. Has Buhari created his own failure by creating this tribal conclave of far right corrupt conservatives who love money and power in equal measure, without any tempering influence of morality?

News filtered out that Mathew Seiyefa, the acting director general of the Department of State Services (DSS) was directed by Kyari to recall all redeployed officers he transferred out of the DSS headquarters when he resumed office on August 8, 2018. This was on the grounds that the reorganisation in the agency was done without clearance from the presidency.

Seiyefa was appointed following the unceremonious removal of Lawal Daura for deploying operatives to lay siege to the National Assembly, wielding guns and with their faces behind balaclavas. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo sacked Daura when his boss was in London on vacation. At the time, Nigerians were sceptical of Daura’s sack, given Buhari’s weak paternalistic leadership and preference for his own. Short of reinstating Daura, all Daura lieutenants redeployed by Seiyefa have been returned to their previous positions. Among those who returned to their former desks are Bassey Eteng and Grace Kentebe, both directors loyal to Daura and the cabal.

Bit by bit, Abba Kyari’s brawling, blustery moves, chip away at Buhari’s credibility and he seems helpless, as if Kyari has something on him. This imponderably stupid move has created a lot of tension at the DSS, and the directive has been complied with by the personnel, most especially those associated with the cabal. Eteng and Kentebe have resumed and personnel morale is expectedly low. How can Seiyefa perform when he has no free hand to run the agency he leads? Why this undue interference in the affairs of the service by the chief of staff to the president? Time and again, Abba Kyari’s name pops up in relation to scandals. Below is a catalogue of Abba Kyari’s scandal in 2016 alone:

…Evidence was reportedly presented to President Buhari that Abba Kyari collected N500 million from the South African telecommunications company, MTN to help reduce the fine imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)…


June 16, 2016: Kyari and Mamman Daura were accused of blocking an investigation being carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into Sahara Energy, which was alleged to have received the sum of $400 million from former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke as a conduit to funnel funds to third parties;

June 22, 2016: Kyari, Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation and Nduka Obaigbena, ThisDay publisher were alleged to be masterminds of the plot to oust Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC acting chairman, from office. The AGF subsequently delayed Magu’s letter of nomination to the Senate for confirmation, aided by the chief of staff;

August 16, 2016: The chief of staff, in apparent abuse of his office, was alleged to have mounted pressure on the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to absolve Seawolf Limited, of its debts. Seawolf owes First Bank of Nigeria a whooping one hundred and sixty billion naira (N160 billion).

September 20, 2016: Evidence was reportedly presented to President Buhari that Abba Kyari collected N500 million from the South African telecommunications company, MTN to help reduce the fine imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC);

In all the drama that unfolded on Bẹ̀rẹ̀kẹ̀tẹ̀, one thing stood out: Abba Kyari was quoted as saying, “if Buhari cannot be caught, neither can I.” With that quote, the immortal words of Karl Marx came to life again! “History repeats itself twice, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce”.


October 21, 2016: Following reports that Kyari received the MTN bribe, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the inspector general of Police, Ibrahim Idris to investigate the allegation. The investigation went no where. It died!

Another explosive allegation was served hot to us over Bẹ̀rẹ̀kẹ̀tẹ̀ Radio on September 2, 2018, involving Abba Kyari in a Hilux truck scam. In an apparent abuse of office, bribery, intimidation, unjust imprisonment, influence peddling, fraud, and violation of procurement guidelines, the chief of staff, gave his nephew Bako Kyari a contract to supply Hilux trucks. Bako Kyari sold family properties to fund the contract, and Abba Kyari, using an intermediary, Ado Sani, appropriated the proceeds. He not only deprived his nephew of N30 million, he used the DSS under Lawal Daura to lock up Bako and the police officer – DSP Lawal – who Bako complained to. DSP Lawal was inconsolable as he recounted his ordeal at the hands of the DSS.

When will Buhari touch his roguish anointeds? When will these charades stop? Abba Kyari poses a direct challenge to Nigeria’s democracy, because he embodies the empty promise of Buhari’s anti-corruption fight. For a man whose animating ideology is money by any means and whose power relations can be charitably characterised as arrogant, Nigeria is indeed in trouble! In all the drama that unfolded on Bẹ̀rẹ̀kẹ̀tẹ̀, one thing stood out: Abba Kyari was quoted as saying, “if Buhari cannot be caught, neither can I.” With that quote, the immortal words of Karl Marx came to life again! “History repeats itself twice, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce”.

Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú a farmer, youth advocate and political analyst writes this weekly column, “Bamidele Upfront” for PREMIUM TIMES. Follow me on Twitter @olufunmilayo