Explosive details have emerged from a new 600-page biography on the life of late President Muhammadu Buhari, revealing that his highly debated refusal to publicly anoint a successor in the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not due to detachment, but a calculated security decision.
The book, “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,” by Dr. Charles Omole, Director General of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research (IPSPR), was presented in Abuja yesterday to a gathering including President Bola Tinubu and Gambian President Adama Barrow.
Former Director General of the DSS, Yusuf Bichi, shed light on the high-stakes politics ahead of the 2022 APC presidential primary. Bichi confirmed that Buhari privately expressed concern that publicly endorsing a successor would expose that individual to “grave danger” due to the “volatility and high-stakes rivalries” within the political environment.
Bichi stressed that Buhari’s silence, which drew criticism for being aloof, was a protective measure.
He said: “In those months, knives were out; politically and, as security professionals know too well, sometimes literally.”
He added: “To name an anointed heir would be to paint a target on a human being and to foreclose a process that, for all its imperfections, was designed to distribute risk.”
Bichi concluded: “He was shielding a life and preserving a fragile equilibrium inside a party whose factions (tendencies) could as easily burn down the house as surrender the nomination they coveted.”
President Bola Tinubu eventually won the primary and the subsequent election.
The book also provided insight into Buhari’s leadership style, specifically his deep respect for institutional stability, even at the cost of supporting an ally.
Bichi revealed why Buhari did not overturn Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s decision to remove Lawal Daura as DSS DG during the period Osinbajo was Acting President.
Despite expectations and “pressure” from some quarters for a reversal upon Buhari’s return, the former President declined to interfere.
Bichi explained: “He had handed executive authority to his vice president while away; to countermand Osinbajo would be an ‘insult to his vice,’ and an injury to institutional order.”
Buhari’s stance, Bichi noted, was rooted in the belief that reversing the action would undermine the legitimacy of the acting presidency and was “injurious to institutional stability.”