Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has revealed how a fellow cabinet member once criticised his performance behind his back during a Federal Executive Council meeting, only for late President Muhammadu Buhari to come to his defence.
Naijaonpoint reports that Mohammed disclosed this in his newly unveiled book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration, which chronicles his experiences serving under the Buhari administration.
According to the former minister, the incident happened while he was away in Washington DC for routine biannual engagements with international media and think tanks.
“I was in Washington DC for the usual biannual engagements with the international media and think tanks,” he wrote.
Mohammed said he later learnt that a minister from the South-West had accused him of incompetence at the FEC meeting.
“As I later learnt, a minister from the South-West had complained that, while the administration was doing a great job, the minister of information was not doing enough to showcase its achievements,” he said.
Mohammed recalled that Buhari immediately shut down the criticism and defended him strongly.
“The President, I was told, would have none of it. According to those present, the President immediately interjected and defended me, stating that I had been doing a great job defending the administration from across the Atlantic,” he wrote.
He added that Buhari told the council he had just watched some of his television engagements where he was projecting the administration’s achievements.
“There could have been no stronger defence and presidential pat on the back,” Mohammed noted.
The former minister also recounted how Buhari handled a petition written against him during his time in office.
“One day when I went to see the President in his office, I noticed that his Aide-de-Camp seemed a little uneasy when he saw me,” Mohammed wrote.
According to him, the ADC later confessed that a petition alleging wrongdoing had been forwarded to the President.
“Then, the President looked at the petition and said, ‘Lai? I don’t believe it!’” Mohammed recalled.
Despite this, Buhari ordered an investigation. “When the report came back, you were found to be clean,” he said.
Mohammed stated that throughout his tenure, Buhari rarely rejected his requests, though one episode came close: the controversial 2018 open letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In the letter, Obasanjo criticised the Buhari administration and urged him not to seek re-election.
Mohammed said Buhari initially directed that no one should respond to the letter out of respect for Obasanjo’s seniority in the military.
“I had discussed with Femi Adesina the need for us to respond, but he firmly told me that the President had instructed that no one should respond,” Mohammed wrote.
“I told him politely but firmly that this was about Nigeria and that we owed it a duty to respond,” he said.
Mohammed described the exchange as “almost a heated debate,” adding that Buhari eventually gave him reluctant approval.
“I went in to issue a lengthy statement, all along remembering his admonition that no one should insult the former president,” he wrote.
He said Buhari later commended the response, with several people reportedly telling the President that “Lai Mohammed has done a good job.”
The former minister also narrated how he nearly shelved a planned trip for local and international journalists to areas reclaimed from Boko Haram in 2015.
He said the then Minister of Defence insisted that Buhari’s approval was required since troops and military platforms would be involved.
“I quickly contacted the Chief of Staff to the President… The President gave his approval for the trip, even when I had not previously discussed with him,” Mohammed wrote.
Mohammed said Buhari consistently supported his ministry despite budgetary constraints.
“With paltry budget for the massive ministry I oversaw, it was almost impossible to implement our programmes,” he wrote, adding that special interventions approved by Buhari made key projects possible.
Reflecting on the late President’s leadership style, Mohammed said what stood out most was Buhari’s quiet trust in his appointees.
“When the late President entrusted someone with responsibility, he also granted them the freedom to act, believing that duty carried its own wisdom,” he added.