Professor Ibrahim Gambari, former Chief of Staff to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, has opened up about the inner workings of the presidency under Buhari, revealing how influential insiders commonly referred to as “the cabal” routinely bypassed official procedures to gain the president’s attention.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Inside Sources on Friday, Gambari confirmed long-held speculations about the presence of a powerful clique that held sway during Buhari’s administration.
“They knew his weak moment, they knew when to smuggle [memos] because they knew him as they interacted with him informally,” he disclosed.
Gambari, a respected diplomat and former UN special envoy, was appointed Chief of Staff in May 2020 following the death of Abba Kyari. He served in the role until Buhari left office on May 29, 2023.
He revealed that although Buhari had publicly ordered that all official memos be routed through the Chief of Staff, some individuals within the presidency found ways to sidestep this directive.
“When I came as Chief of Staff, he made a statement publicly. He said all memos must go through the Chief of Staff before coming to him. Even the Vice President, to his credit, always passed his memos through me several ministers did the same. But our people still got their memos to him from behind,” Gambari said.
Despite the breach of protocol, Gambari noted that the advantage he had was that “the memos came back to me,” underscoring the level of influence the informal circle wielded in Buhari’s decision-making.
He also described Buhari as a deeply compassionate leader who was reluctant to sack his appointees, even in the face of widespread public criticism.
“His affection for his appointees mirrored his love for Nigerians. That’s why he couldn’t fire some cabinet members when people thought he should,” Gambari explained.
Addressing the existence of a “cabal,” Gambari clarified that such inner circles exist in all governments, regardless of what they’re called.
“They say there was a cabal there was. Every government has a cabal. Some may call them a kitchen cabinet or a think tank. Obasanjo had a group the Aboyades and others. The nature of the office demands people the president can let his guard down with. Some have more power than others,” he stated.
Gambari also reflected on Buhari’s time as a military ruler, suggesting that internal resentment among fellow officers may have contributed to his ouster in 1985.
“I was a minister in 1984–1985, but I wasn’t privy to why he was removed by his colleagues. One reason I was told was that military officers were resenting the fact that Head of State Buhari was now getting a lot of advice and second-guessing the decisions of his military colleagues,” he noted.
Buhari passed away on July 13, 2025, in a London clinic at the age of 82 and was buried two days later in Daura, Katsina State.