Some funds approved for the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) under Babagana Monguno were reportedly withheld by a cabal, according to Monguno, who occupied the NSA office from 2015 to 2023.
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He made the claim in the book From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari.
The biography of the late President, written by Charles Omole, was launched at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.
In the book, Monguno narrated some of the challenges he encountered while in office and how those challenges affected national security.
He traced the problem to a recommendation he made based on intelligence from the Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet.
According to him, the Commander raised concerns that the fleet’s supplier was under investigation, and that this posed a security risk if the supplier were indicted.
Monguno said he wrote to President Buhari recommending a change of supplier, and the president agreed and approved the recommendation.
However, Monguno revealed that the decision unearthed entrenched interests within the presidency.
He said the late Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, first challenged him, asking, “Why did you do this?”
According to Monguno, Mamman Daura, Buhari’s nephew, was also displeased, describing the decision as an injustice to the fuel supplier.
“The Minister of Finance, who owed loyalty to Mamman Daura, was co-opted to withhold funds from the NSA office even after Buhari’s approval. Buhari and Nigerians were both victims of the cabal that enriched itself beyond measure,” he said.
Monguno added that starving the NSA office of funds weakened the country’s security architecture and effectively blinded the state.
He stated that funds inherited from his predecessor had been exhausted, while subscriptions for critical systems and technical partnerships with foreign agencies had lapsed.
He noted that the surveillance infrastructure around the Villa was maintained with NSA budget funds, but approvals to keep it current were repeatedly stalled.
Monguno also said that even after Buhari approved an appointment, a counter-note from a gatekeeper undermined the decision.
“You do not need a conspiracy to weaken a system; you only need petty sabotage repeated often enough,” he added.
Daily Trust had reported how Aisha Buhari, widow of the late president, recounted her own experiences in the book.
According to the former First Lady, rumors within the Presidential Villa once made her late husband suspect that she planned to harm him.
She said the development disrupted his feeding routine and contributed to the health crisis that kept him away from office for months in 2017.
The book states that gossip and fear-mongering within Aso Rock briefly created mistrust between her and the President, causing him to alter personal habits, including locking his room and skipping meals.
Mrs. Buhari said that for years she personally supervised Buhari’s meals and supplements, a routine necessary to support his health.
“This is given his long history of nutritional challenges. Buhari’s illnesses were neither mysterious nor the result of poisoning,” she said.
After relocating from Kaduna to the Presidential Villa, responsibility for Buhari’s feeding routine shifted to official handlers, leading to delays, skipped meals, and the suspension of prescribed supplements.
According to Aisha Buhari, for nearly a year, the President did not take lunch regularly, and the breakdown in dietary management significantly weakened him.
The book also detailed claims by Mrs. Buhari of a climate of mistrust within the Presidency, including alleged surveillance and bugging of private conversations, which she said contributed to anxiety during his final years.
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