An associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, Isa Funtua has disclosed he is not a member of any cabal but a “cabal myself.”
Funtua accused Nigerians of making use of the term ‘cabal’ in a derogatory manner, stating the President is free to have people he trusts around him.
Funtua who is among those often referred to as ‘cabals’, hails from the same state the president is from, Katsina State.
In a programme on Arise Television, on Saturday, Funtua said it is an insult to say Buhari is running his government through a group of people.
“I’m not a member of any cabal, I’m cabal myself,” he said.
“What is cabal? In short I think it means kitchen cabinet, people that you trust. People you believe will not deceive you, that they can do things in the interest of the country.
“Nigerians are using it in a derogatory term not in the real meaning of it. Take dictionary, what is the real meaning of cabal?
Questioned about the first lady’s claim that cabals exists in the presidency, he said: “Please, let me hear word, I beg you.”
It could be recalled that the wife of the president in December accused presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, of not being loyal to her husband but “to others who have no stake in the compact that the president signed with Nigerians on May 29, 2015 and 2019.”
Another personality Nigerians have accused of being among ‘the cabals’ is Alhaji Mamman Daura.
Daura is an uncle to President Muhammadu Buhari, although he is two and half years older than the President.
The relationship between the two has been extremely close and dates back to their childhood years. It is a known fact that Buhari had always listened to and confided in Mamman Daura because of the mutual trust both men had developed over the years.
However, others have criticized the relationship citing that it is too close and it has practically made the relative to the President an under-cover Administrator in the current government.
