News

Aisha, Aides Bicker Over Access To Buhari

Published

9 years ago

February 27, 2017

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari is not happy with presidential aides working with President Muhammadu Buhari in London.
Our correspondent reports that family members, friends and senior government officials who attempted to call or pay visits to President Muhammadu Buhari in the United Kingdom are having a difficult time getting access.
The paper said four aides of the President control access to President Buhari, who is on extended medical vacation in the United Kingdom.
The aides are the President’s nephew, Mamman Daura; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs, Sarki Aba; Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; and Personal Assistant to the President; Tunde Sabiu.
Anyone who wants to telephone or see the President in London, it was learnt, must get the approval of one or more of the four aides. The only two individuals who are exempted from seeking permission to visit Buhari or call him are Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and First Lady, Aisha Buhari.
Aisha Buhari is said not to be happy with the way the aides have been managing access to her husband. The first lady’s relationship with the president’s aides has not always been cordial. In October last year, Aisha granted a highly controversial interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation, in which she alleged that a cabal had hijacked her husband’s government.
According to a source in government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Buhari’s wife had voiced her displeasure to close friends and associates that the cabal she complained about were still the ones in charge of her husband in London.
“The First Lady is not with him permanently in London, which should normally not be the case. She has had a few clashes with the cabal and she is not happy that they are also firmly in control in London. That’s why she goes and comes. She is not happy with the atmosphere over there.”
Our correspondent gathered that these individuals have turned down numerous requests from the President’s friends, associates and members of his cabinet to see him.
Since Buhari extended his medical vacation on February 19, those who have visited him in his Abuja House residence in London include the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Chief Bisi Akande; Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.
It was gathered that the visits were initiated by the guests who made requests which had to be reviewed by the President’s aides. Daura was present during the Tinubu and Akande’s visit. Daura, who holds no political office in the present dispensation, has repeatedly been touted as the most powerful person in the present government, prompting Buhari to publicly declare late October 2016 that, “I’m in charge, not Mamman Daura.”
Daura travels with the President and is often seen with him. Daura is believed to belong to the legendary ‘Kaduna Mafia’, an influential group of young Northern Nigerian intellectuals, civil servants, business tycoons and military officers residing or conducting business in the former Northern capital city of Kaduna.
The group reportedly influenced government policies during the military era and previous civilian administrations. Other famous members of the group were Adamu Ciroma, Ibrahim Tahir, Mahmud Tukur, and former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Adamu Ciroma; former Minister of Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Tahir; former Minister of Commerce and Industry during the Buhari-Idiagbon regime, Dr. Mahmud Tukur; former Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki; former Head of the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Hamza Zayyad; a former minister, Umaru Mutallab; former presidential aspirant and number-two man, General Shehu Yar’Adua; a former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Ango Abdullahi; Professor Jibril Aminu and others.
Kyari is known to be one of the President’s closest aides. He plans Buhari’s schedules while ministers are said to queue in his office to see the President. Kyari’s influence became clear to many during a retreat organised by the Presidency for the then ministers-designate.
While declaring the retreat open on November 5, 2015, Buhari said, “in addition, all communications and appointments from you (ministers) to the Presidency should be routed through the Office of the Chief of Staff as it is the normal (procedure) in this presidential system.”
While much is not known about Sabiu, who was appointed shortly after Buhari’s election, he is reportedly related to Daura. Sources in government told our correspondent that the President ‘feels relaxed’ around him and has a lot of trust in him. The same was said of Aba, who was described as ‘quiet but one of the few people that can make anyone see the President.”
Presented with the names of the aides controlling access to the president, a source in the Presidency confirmed the list. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, said, “The names you have are accurate and they are the ones controlling access to the President in London, even in Nigeria. Some Ministers, Aides and Service Chiefs tried to talk to the President on the phone, but they turned them down.
“The few people that have seen the President only saw him because they agreed to it. If they didn’t, it would never have happened, apart from Governor Amosun, who everyone knows is one of Buhari’s best friends.”
The source refused to give the names of those whose requests to see Buhari were turned down.

News

NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Portal

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has alerted the public to a fraudulent message circulating online, claiming that the NELFUND Student Loan Registration Portal is open.

The message directs applicants to a third-party link (http://gvly.xyz/Nelfund-Student-Loan, which NELFUND confirms is unauthorised and fraudulent.

In a post obtained from its X handle, yesterday, NELFUND urged students and the general public not to click on the link or provide any personal information, emphasising that the official loan registration portal is only accessible through the Fund’s verified channels.

The agency reminded applicants to exercise caution online and to report any suspicious links or communications claiming to be from NELFUND.

“Applicants are encouraged to always verify official announcements via NELFUND’s official website and social media channels,” NELFUND said.

This advisory comes as part of NELFUND’s ongoing efforts to safeguard students and ensure the integrity of the student loan application process.

News

Eastern Port Police Boss Promises On Crime-Free Operations

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The new Commissioner of Police Eastern, Ports Command, Mr Tijani Fatai has promised to ensure a crime- free ports operations in the zone.
He said effective policing will be mounted across the ports in the zone in tackling the high rate of community unrest, activities of port rats and other social vices.
Fatai while speaking to newsmen shortly after taking over as the 17th commissioner said he wants to be remembered as a peace maker during his tenure as Commissioner of Police in the Eastern Ports Command.
According to him,’’the community policing is the sure way of addressing most conflicts and other social vices bedeviling our society today and I will explore it to its fullest” .
The Commissioner also assured officers of the rank and file of improved welfare whoch he described as a cardinal objective of the present efforts of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
He said,” the Inspector General of Police has sent me to assure you all of welfare, promotions as and when due,no officers particular rank and file will be left behind in the coming months.
Fatai before his recent posting was an operational officer,who spent most of his years with the Police Mobile Force (PMF) where he served as Unit Commander (UC) and Commander, PMF.
Before his redeployment as a Commissioner of Police,(CP), he was the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, DCP, Operations, Lagos State Command.

News

Kalabaris Celebrate New Year Amid Fanfare

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

Thousands of Kalabari indigenes from Akuku- Toru, Asari-Toru, Degema and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas last Sunday gathered at Elem Kalabari in Degema Local Government Area to celebrate what they said is the Kalabari new year amidst pomp and pageantry
According to stakeholders, the event which started over 200 years ago normally falls on the 16th of November every year.
The of this year’s celebration which was organised by Kalabari Renaissance Foundation was “Our Heritage, Honouring Our Waters and Renewing Our Spirit.”
Stakeholders said this year’s celebration was symbolic as it was holding at Elem Kalabari which is the home of the Kalabari people.
The event also featured various masquerade displays from cultural troupes within Kalabari and beyond.
Speaking on the significance of the event, the Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari (The Source), HRH Mujahid Asari Dokubo, said the celebration signaled a return to the traditional values of the Kalabari people and the need for self-recreation.
“It’s not just about celebration, It’s about recreating ourselves, bringing us back from death.
“The organisation that has come to take over this celebration – Renaissance – really fits the description of what ought to happen to us as a people.
“It’s not just Kalabari; it’s about all of us and our values. We have to look at ourselves and our values,” he said.
Dokubo called on all Kalabari citizens to join hands together to revive their traditional values and heritage in order not to lose their cultural identity and spiritual trajectory.
Also speaking, Harry Awolayeofori MacMorrison, Chief Administrator and Chairman of Kalabari Renaissance Foundation, organizsers of the Kalabari new year festival, said the event marks the beginning of a new calendar year for the Kalabari people, after November 15 of every year when the tide cleanses the pollution from the Sombreiro River inflows, describing it as a renewal of the Kalabari people.
“It’s the renewal of the people. Kalabari area is saline environment and at a time, the Sombreiro River comes in and pollutes the river.
“On the 15th November, across Kalabari, the tide turns and takes all the fresh water that polluted the saline river back to the Sombreiro River
. “On the 15th is the end of the year. Normally when there is an end, there is a new beginning. On the 16th (November) is the beginning of the Kalabari calendar,” he said.
Awolayeofori Mac Morrison said the Kalabari communities had been holding the new year festival separately in the past until the Renaissance Foundation decided to champion a unified celebration to enable them forge a common front of trado-cultural and socio-economic development across the entire territory.
He said last year’s event held at Abalama while they decided to bring this year’s celebration to Elem Kalabari because of it significance to the Kalabari nation.
Also speaking, a member of the planning committee and media lead, Journalist Ibiba Don Pedro, said there was need to reawaken the consciousness of their people on the need to embrace their traditional values without reservations, noting that there was nothing fetish about the festival.
She said the celebration was to unite the Kalabaris as well as project the cultural heritage of the people.
Don Pedro said time has come for Africa to go back to their root , adding that development will continue to elude African countries until the people rediscover themselves.