A northern leader and elite, Dr. Dr. Junaid Mohammed has described the cabals ruling from the Presidential Aso Rock Villa as being powerful than President Muhammadu Buhari.
Junaid, a medical doctor by profession in a recent interview with the The New Telegraph echoed the voice of some Nigerians calling for the resignation of the President, considering his poor health.
He described Mamma Daura, a cousin to Buhari as the real President, though unelected, but very powerful that the President Himself.
In a bid to prove how Daura is more powerful that Buhari, he highlighted instances where Buhari gave some orders, but Daura gave a counter-orders which were eventually carried out.
Read excerpt from the interview according to The New Telegraph
Given the controversy generated by the health status of the President, the secrecy surrounding it and even the call by some activists like Femi Falana that the president should quietly proceed on medical leave and allow his deputy to do the job, what do you think about this situation for Nigerians?
The scenario as you have described it and which most of us have some knowledge of is a very unfortunate situation.
This country called Nigeria and its about 200 million people, deserve something much better.
I think the country and the people are being shortchanged; shortchanged because the presidency is clearly hijacked and it is captive.
The presidency is captive because from the very beginning the President himself did not care to think about legitimacy and constitutionalism; he also did not care about the party that brought him to power or the legitimate process of governance.
He decided and only he can tell us why he put some people in very powerful positions.
In fact, he put some people without any position named after them or in their name and these are the people who have been running the affairs of this country from the time the president was sworn in two years ago.
Who are these people?
You want me to name them? Well collectively, they are called the ‘cabal’ but if you want, I will give you their individual names. One, Mamman Daura, who lives and sits in the Presidency.
He has a table there and a whole retinue of people who are serving him and who effectively exercises the powers of the President.
It is common knowledge that this same Mamman Daura was never elected into any public office in his entire lousy life.
He has never won an election; he has never been a party member, card carrying or otherwise or even a member of any political party.
We only know him as part of a faceless group of opportunists called the ‘Kaduna Mafia’
Now, he exercises more powers than the President, because there have been instances when the President gave an order and Mamman Daura effectively countermanded it and there was a time when he physically wrestled and took away papers bearing the signature of Mr. President because he did not want what the president had sanctioned to happen.
So he is that powerful?
Yes, he is that powerful. In addition, the man physically lives in the Presidential Villa. In fact, he lives in a facility which is situated in between Buhari and Buhari’s wife.
Inside the villa? Inside the villa in the glass house.
Who else is part of the cabal?
The next person is ..a sort of son to Mamman Daura; his name is Abba Kyari and he goes by the title, Chief of Staff. The other member of the group is a young man who just got married in Kaduna last week. He is called …Tunde. He has some kind of title. They call him, P.A to the President but he has access to every paper, every document and every communication between the President and anybody in Nigeria.
His only qualification that he is supposed to be some distant grandson of Buhari You can also mention the outgoing Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; he is part of the cabal.
There are other people who I don’t even care to mention but who share the same role because they are either grandsons or distant cousins of Buhari.
These are the people who have been wielding power in Nigeria for the last two years.
Now, there are others who have some papers indicating that they are holding certain positions and offices within the government but there are many others who don’t but have been wielding serious influence. Mamman Daura… who holds no electoral position anywhere in the democracy is the leader.
If this is the situation, what has been hijacked must have been available to be grabbed.
If the President decided to choose a dangerous circle of sycophants and old personal relations to him and we have the situations we have in our hands and Nigerians decided to keep quiet about it because don’t tell me I am the only person that knows about it.
There are many others who know it but have kept quiet. I have not kept quiet because to keep quiet is to allow them to be taken for a ride and Nigerians have themselves to be blamed for it.
They shouldn’t blame anybody for this situation we have found ourselves today.
What do you think is happening?
It was clear when Buhari was travelling; those of us with medical background knew that he could not fix the time for the conclusion of his treatment and he could not therefore fix when he will be coming back to Nigeria. We admit that Buhari did the correct thing constitutionally by formally handing over his powers to the Vice President as the constitution stipulates.
It was after he went there, the cabal realized they could not manipulate Osinbajo and they decided they will have to bring Buhari back irrespective of what his doctors advised and irrespective of his health status.
They simply parceled him into the next available plane, flew him to Kaduna and choppered him to Abuja.
Now he has been signing documents for them; he has been doing what they wanted him to do, and what they could not get away with in his absence.
For example, the contract to purchase farm implements running into billions of dollars which he left and handed over to the Central Bank and the Central Bank was too scared to sign because of the huge sums involved, they have gone back and forced it on the Central Bank saying it is from the President.
This is how we have been governed in the last two years, effectively like a Banana Republic. If we are in the mess we are in today, nobody should blame anybody but Buhari himself and the people he brought into power without any legality.
These are the people holding him and holding the whole of Nigeria captive.
Under the current situation, what should Nigerians do?
Now what we need to do and pray as hard as we can, is to be looking for how to have a soft landing, otherwise this Buhari and these shenanigans and some institutions and what have you, will beat Nigeria into another mayhem.
If care is not taken, we may be heading towards another national disaster and I certainly believe neither Buhar’s presidency nor the cabal or anybody else is worth a single life of any Nigerian. Enough is enough.
There are already calls for him to step outside so that he can take care of himself while his deputy acts. What do you advise President Buhari to do at this time?
Long before now, I advised President Buhari precisely along this route. I told him he was in a bad health, the situation is very serious and that the country cannot wait for one individual no matter who he is. Granted he won an election, credible and thoroughly fair election but then there is the issue of performance. Nobody can be elected into high office and pretend that he is well the country must be well. If he is not well the country will continue to be frigid.
The issue we have is yes Buhari was elected but he has no capacity to lead this country whether he is consumed by ill health, or he is been found by medical incapacity or bad indication or mis-indication, the fact remains that the man cannot govern Nigeria today. I believe those who are making noise now are one or two aides but it is better late than never. Let the man leave and those interested in the zoning rotation can come and tell us that to Buhari should step aside and let the law take its course.
There is a Vice President appointed previously for that purpose we are confronted with today.
The Vice President is there to replace the President in the event of incapacity of the President, mental or physical incapacity, in the event of the President being unable to manage the affairs of this country because of misdemeanor and he is there also to inherit the mantle of leadership in the event of the President being impeached by the National Assembly for reasons of being incapable to govern this country.
We have had a situation of such before any way when President Umaru Yar’Adua could not govern. We argued and settled on the issue of what needed be done. We can set up a medical board which will include the young man who is the personal physician to President Buhari to go over his state of health and let’s see if he can govern or he cannot govern.
The issue of setting up a medical board under the constitution that should come from the Federal Executive Council, are you sure the FEC today in the cabinet of Buhari will be bold enough to ask him to resign or set up a board?
Read the Full Interview From The New Telegraph Newspaper
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