Nigerians slam Buhari for ordering ministers to report to Kyari

On Wednesday, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari came under intense  criticisms for directing his ministers to channel all their meeting requests to him through his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

The President had on Tuesday, at the close of the two-day retreat organised for the ministers, asked them to always go through Kyari for meeting requests and through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, for issues relating to the Federal Executive Council. He reiterated the same thing on Wednesday while inaugurating the ministers.

He said, “As I said yesterday (Tuesday), in terms of coordinating communication, kindly ensure that all submissions for my attention or meeting requests be channelled through the Chief of Staff while all Federal Executive Council matters be coordinated through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in order to speed up the process of decision-making.”

The President advised them to work as a team and open lines of communication with one another in order to hasten the pace of work.

But this directive has attracted criticism from individuals and groups who felt that the President was giving too much power to his Chief of Staff who was neither elected nor recognised by the nation’s constitution.

For instance, the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, said Buhari had with that directive abdicated his responsibility.

Speaking with one of our correspondents, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was an indication that Nigerians would not enjoy good governance during Buhari’s second term.

Ologbondiyan added that by the directive, Buhari had reduced the ministers to Kyari’s clerical aides.

He said, “By that directive, he has reduced the ministers to the clerical aides to the Chief of Staff and because of that even him, Mr President, has abdicated his responsibilities and assigned it to his Chief of Staff. That cannot lead to good governance in the next four years.

“The directive also suggests that Mr President as the Minister of Petroleum Resources will also go through the Chief of Staff on policy matters. He has abdicated his responsibility and ceded it to his Chief of Staff.”

Ologbondiyan had in a statement said such demotion of ministers was unacceptable, counter-productive, adding that it only reduced governance to a domestic affair.

In faulting Buhari’s directive, the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, said the President had elevated Kyari to the position of de facto prime minister.

The group’s spokesman, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents.

Odumakin, who is also the spokesman for the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum, said Buhari made the open declaration to the ministers in order to prevent pressure from them.

He said, “That statement shows clearly that the President wants to reign as President. As a man that is reigning, he cannot be disturbed by matters of state, like ministers coming to disturb him and bringing files to him.

“So, he has delegated that responsibility to the de facto prime minister, the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

“In the midst of what we are going through, should ministers be going through Abba Kyari to see the President?”

Odumakin argued that any President interested in moving Nigeria forward should be seen having daily meetings with ministers.

He added, “We have seen the sterling performance he has shown in the last four years; of being the coordinator of the ministers. That is a joke; Abba Kyari has not shown any sterling quality.

“But our case is that in the midst of what we are, anybody that wants to govern Nigeria; that wants to achieve results and move the country out of these crises, that person should be holding almost a daily dialogue with the ministers.

“For Buhari to sit down in the Presidential Villa like a monarch and appoint a principal chief who other chiefs report to, I don’t think we understand where we are.”