Charles Omole, a lawyer and author, has claimed that influential figures within the administration of late former President Muhammadu Buhari often planted stories in newspapers to appeal to the president’s reading habits.
Buhari
Omole made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television while discussing a newly launched biography titled From Soldier to Statesman The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, which he authored.
The book examines aspects of Buhari’s leadership and legacy during his tenure as Nigeria’s civilian president from 2015 to 2023.
Speaking on the programme, Omole said that every Nigerian president since 1999 has had a group of close associates or a cabal that influenced governance and policy direction.
According to him, the existence of a cabal within an administration is not inherently negative, provided such groups align with the president’s vision and act as what he described as a force multiplier.
“Like I said in the book, every president, since 1999, had his own cabal,” he said.
“Cabal is not necessarily a bad thing. The cabals can become a force multiplier. If they share the intention of the leaders they can help magnify his programmes and help achieve much better things.
“But the problem comes when cabals have their own agenda.”
Omole said the Buhari administration was characterised by what he described as an overarching cabal, while the administration of President Bola Tinubu is shaped by multiple power blocs.
He identified what he described as five cabals within the current government, naming groups associated with Femi Gbajabiamila, Seyi Tinubu, First Lady Remi Tinubu, the president’s principal private secretary, and another group headed by Tinubu himself.
“The current one is slightly more complicated. He has more than one cabal. Every president has their own cabal,” he said.
Omole also claimed that Buhari’s fondness for newspapers was exploited by powerful figures within his administration.
“One of the things about Buhari is that he loved reading newspapers. Everybody knows that right from his early days, he was a newspaper man,” he said.
“There were reports that the cabals went to the extent of creating his own newspaper. They would plant stories that they want him to read.”
He added that while a single dominant cabal defined the Buhari years, the presence of multiple cabals in the current administration presents both advantages and drawbacks.
“The challenge, of course, with someone like Buhari is that there was one overarching cabal but in this current government, there are multiple cabals. I think this has its plus and minus,” he said.
Omole noted that some details were deliberately excluded from the book because they were too sensitive to publish, adding that his observations were based on personal analysis of how power operates within successive Nigerian administrations.
