Tuesday, September 8, 2026 - Former Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, has said the late former President Muhammadu Buhari was surrounded by sycophants who betrayed his trust and took advantage of his administration.
Daura, who is also the vice-presidential candidate of the
Allied Peoples Movement, made the remarks during an interview on Channels
Television’s Politics Today aired on Monday, September 7.
He said critics who describe Buhari’s administration as the
worst in Nigeria’s history should examine the country’s political record
between 1995 and 2023 before reaching such a conclusion. Daura said his
position as intelligence chief required him to remain close to Buhari and
claimed he stood by the former president and protected his
administration.
“Yes, they can say
it, but I also want them, the real students of history, to go back from 1995 to
2023, when he exited, and find out which were the worst years. I wasn’t part of
the government then,” he said. “And that will show you that I stood by him and
I protected that government. Everything started to give way after 2018 since I
left office.”
Daura said there were sycophants around Buhari and claimed
he knew some of them as well as details of their actions. He also rejected
suggestions that he belonged to a so-called cabal around the former president.
“No, there is no cabal,” he said.
“Even if there was a cabal, the intelligence chief of a
country can never be part of a cabal because the schedule I handled made it
necessary for me to be close to the president at all times.” According to
Daura, those he described as sycophants did not “necessarily” misdirect Buhari
but instead betrayed the trust the former president placed in them
Reflecting on lessons from Buhari’s administration, Daura
argued that personal relationships should not automatically determine
appointments to public office. He said loyalty to, or association with, an
individual should be considered separately from whether a person possesses the
competence and trustworthiness required for a particular position.
Daura added that even when a trusted associate is being
considered for public office, the person’s competence should be properly
assessed and the responsibility assigned should reflect both their abilities
and the level of trust placed in them. “And even if you are to do that, you
must also weigh the quality of that person and then maybe place him in an
office that befits him or is proportionate to maybe the level of trust you have
in that person,” he said.
“But in that situation, an unfortunate situation, I would
say, it so happened that people were just, you know, trusted.”Daura maintained
that Buhari’s administration ultimately suffered because some people were
entrusted with responsibilities without sufficient consideration of whether
they were suitable for the positions
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