On the 24th June 2019, an unusual political activity took place in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. A public demonstration staged by an obscure political group that gave its name as APC Concerned Nation Stakeholders led by an even more obscure figure called Dr. Symeon Chilagorom proclaimed that they were protesting against internal forces pulling down the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his public speech, the Convener of the group, Symeon Chilagorom specifically identified ALH Mamman Daura, Samaila Isa Funtua and Mall Abba Kyari as members of the group that is pulling down the administration. In his words, “the people of this country elected Muhammadu Buhari as their President, not Mamman Daura, Samaila Isa Funtua and Mall Abba Kyari.”
Of the three people mentioned in that speech, only Abba Kyari holds an office in the Buhari government. He is Chief of Staff in the Presidency. The other two accused persons hold no office in the government whatsoever. The agitators protesting their role in government have a responsibility to prove to Nigerians how the President has abdicated his executive responsibilities to them or how they have hijacked those duties and responsibilities.
The office of Chief of Staff is not of Cabinet rank, the holder of the office wields no executive powers, controls no ministry and or department of government. He is an extension of the office of the president, playing managerial and advisory roles such as selection and coordination of key staff, control of people who come to see the President and protecting the interest of the President or any other responsibilities that are entrusted to him by his principal. To demonstrate that he is subordinate to the president, the Constitution does not require that he is screened and confirmed by the Senate.
To accuse him of usurping the powers of the President is to accuse the President of gross incompetence and dereliction of duty. Even as Symeon Chaligorom and his group make great pretense of “love for the President” and vouching for his “personal integrity and capabilities”, the implication of their public pronouncement and outburst on Monday is that the President is incompetent and has lost control of his office.
It is indeed sad that people who profess love for their President and trust in his competence will in the same breath accuse him of abdicating his office to a subordinate he employed and has the powers to fire.
This accusation is even more grave and an open insult on the President when a few individuals who have no office in government are accused of rendering the president impotent in exercising the powers invested in him by the constitution he swore to uphold and defend.
The target for destruction by Symeon and his confederates in the APC Concerned Nation Stakeholders is not Mamman Daura, not Ismaila Funtua and certainly not Abba Kyari. The target is the President himself.
With ‘friends’ like Symeon Chulagorom and his group, President Buhari does not need to worry about who is his enemies.
Since his appointment as Chief of Staff to President Buhari in 2015, Abba Kyari has been faced with a cocktail of spurious allegations against his person. None of these allegations have been proven and remain in the realm of speculation and fiction by those who are envious of his enhanced status.
The public is yet to be presented with any evidence that the man is corrupt and or incompetent for the job. The demonstration on Monday carried the unsubstantiated allegations a notch higher. If anything, a glance at the resume of Abba Kyari gives one conclusive prove that President Buhari couldn’t have made a better choice for the office of Chief of Staff.