By Ishaya Ibrahim
The presidency has refused to react to a leaked memo detailing how President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari, allegedly takes national security decisions without involving the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Munguno.
Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media, Garba Shehu, neither picked nor returned calls seeking to confirm or refute the report published by an online medium, PREMIUM TIMES. He also did not reply to a text message on the subject.
Special Adviser to the president on media, Femi Adesina, has also kept mum on the matter, as he has not reacted to the story using his tweeter or Facebook account as he usually does.
In the leaked memo, the NSA accused Kyari, of giving directives to Service Chiefs without his knowledge, a situation he said has worsened Nigeria’s security situation. He asked the Service Chiefs to desist from doing so.
“Chief of staff to the president is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country. As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the Constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.
“Such acts and continues meddlesomeness by chief of staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts, but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr President has sought to achieve,” Munguno said in the memo.
A prominent Lagos lawyer contacted to comment on the implication of such a memo, pleaded not to be quoted as he fears that the government could send agents of the state to arrest him for criticizing the president’s lack of leadership.