Lawyer and author, Charles Omole, has alleged that powerful figures within the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari routinely planted stories in newspapers to influence the president, exploiting his fondness for reading print media.
Omole made the claim during an interview on Channels Television while speaking on his newly released biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, which examines the former leader’s governance and legacy as Nigeria’s civilian president from 2015 to 2023.
According to Omole, every Nigerian president since 1999 has operated alongside a group of close associates or a cabal that exerts significant influence on governance and policy direction.
“Like I said in the book, every president, since 1999, had his own cabal,” Omole stated, adding that the existence of cabals is not necessarily negative if they align with the leader’s vision.
“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,” he said.
He described the Buhari administration as being dominated by a single, overarching cabal, in contrast to the current administration of President Bola Tinubu, which he said is characterised by multiple power blocs.
Omole identified what he described as five cabals within the present government, linking them to the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; Seyi Tinubu; First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; the President’s principal private secretary; and another group led directly by President Tinubu himself.
“The current one is slightly more complicated. He has more than one cabal. Every president has their own cabal,” he noted.
Omole further alleged that Buhari’s love for newspapers was deliberately exploited by influential figures within his government.
“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 shaped the Buhari years, the presence of multiple cabals in the current administration presents both benefits and challenges.
“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,” Omole said.
The author also revealed that some sensitive details were deliberately excluded from the book, noting that his analysis was based on personal observations of how power operates across successive Nigerian administrations.