The Nigerian Presidency has put to rest rumours of a powerful ‘cabal’ forming in Aso-rock with the sole aim of hijacking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Appearing on TVC Politics on Sunday, Presidential media aide, Ajuri Ngelale disclosed that no one or any group of people could establish control over the President’s actions.
He disclosed that the President has structured his government in a way that prevents any single official or group from exerting the kind of influence that could lead to governance hijack.
He said, “The good fortune we have is that we elected, not just a professional accountant, a professional auditor, but we elected a man who fully understands the governance mechanisms, not just at the federal level, but at sub-national level. I think this is a man who anyone working in the office of the President would tell you, there is not one individual in the Presidency that has a monopoly over what the President sees, hears and reads. Nobody has that kind of power in the office of this President and that’s intentional.”
“He is someone who everyone has access to, everyone who needs to have access to him, has access to him. He has direct communications on a frequent basis with the heads of intelligence agencies, anti-graft agencies, and the like.”
“So there is not going to be the potential there for anyone to form a cabal around this President because he’s aware of the dynamics of what has happened in the past and he is determined to ensure that that is not replicated under his watch.”
“I will also add the fact that in the person of the current CBN Governor Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, this is a man who is reputed around the world as being a prudent manager of men and resources. This is someone who has a reputation, even within the government, of being tight fisted and that is by the intention of President Bola Tinubu to have someone like that in place.
“I would also add that when you look at organizational structures that lead to Governor Emefiele, … put him in the position that he currently is in, the President has taken a comprehensive review of that structure and he has said, even by legislation, that we are going to ensure that not only guardrails are put in place, but that legislative changes be enacted in such a way that this can never happen again.”
“He’s determined to do it, Nigerians will watch him do it and that will mean that moving forward, the kind of elite conspiracy we saw between CBN officials, high ranking government officials and high ranking members of the private sector, they’re not going to be able to conspire amongst themselves to find loopholes within the system because we have a President who’s an auditor and accountant, who will close those loopholes, just the way he did in Lagos State many years ago.”, he said.