The cabal in Aso Rock has reportedly staged a comeback in the presidency and has perfected a strategy to sideline vice-president Yemi Osinbajo from governance following the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from the United Kingdom where he was on medical vacation.

The Punch, citing sources familiar with happenings in Aso Rock, reports that a group comprising of some members of the president’s extended family and friends have again tightened their grip on the president to influence policy-making and determine those who get major appointments.

A source told the newspaper that while the president was away from the country, the cabal felt sidelined by Yemi Osinbajo who was served as acting president at that time. The influence of the cabal on governance during that period was said to have dwindled as Osinbajo only consulted the president in London before taking major decisions without the inputs of the cabal.

“While Buhari was away, they tried to ensure that Osinbajo was not in control of the government, by keeping away information from Osinbajo. Kyari’s main job in the villa is to make Osinbajo look bad,” a source close to the president said. However, with the return of the president, the cabal is said to be back in power.

“They seem to have a disproportionate influence on what he (Buhari) does, what he says, and who he appoints. This cannot be in doubt; it is the fact of the matter,” one of the sources said. The return of the cabal to Aso Rock was also confirmed by a former member of the House of Representatives in the second republic, Junaid Mohammed. He said: “Off the cuff, one must mention Mamman Daura because he’s the kingpin and, in actual fact, he wields more power than the President.

He knows; the President knows and those of them who are in government also know. After him, you have to mention the father to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Musa Bello. “The son was made a minister, even though he has always been a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party. And, in fact, he was chairman of the National Hajj Commission for four years in a PDP administration.

Then, when Buhari won, they made him a minister. Also, you have to mention the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who is the pre-eminent lackey and errand boy of the mafia. You also have to include one character called Dr. Mahmud Tukur, the younger brother of Bamanga Tukur. “Essentially, you can say that between the Buhari administration and the Kaduna Mafia is a revolving door. Once you come from the Kaduna Mafia, you occupy a very important position and there is no doubt about that — the same revolving-door policy was operated when he (Buhari) was Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund."

“The names I mentioned are the prominent members of the Kaduna Mafia. Again, it is not a (definitive) list because they keep coming in and out. But one thing about them is that they believe they have a divine right to dominate the North, and if they dominate the North, (they believe) they have a divine right to dominate Nigeria.” Speaking also, a chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman, said the cabal had perfected a strategy that had helped them to sideline the vice president.

“What they do is, they make sure they second-guess Osinbajo, what he’s going to do and then they go ahead and get Buhari to commit to a contrary opinion or a contrary line of action. They first try to see what he is likely to do; they don’t go and tell Buhari. This is what Osinbajo is planning to do.’ They get Buhari to commit — sometimes, publicly — to a view, policy or thrust, which is contrary to what Osinbajo has been trying to bring up as a policy. They do that by frustrating him (the vice president) and making sure that he doesn’t have his way.”

http://www.naijanewspapers.com.ng/2017/08/osinbajo-in-trouble-as-aso-villa-cabal.html

Reading.

Its sad that we had earlier gone past this cabal and old order of kaduna mafia but some people in their ignorance, tribal sentiments and outright stupidity went to vote this old order back.
Now we are back to square one

I really don't understand why Buhari will allow a serpent-like cabal of shadowy bureaucratic forces to work from within to destabilise and undermine his government. It's no point roaring like a lion on national TV when in reality, you're being controlled and manipulated by a select few.

I can get my head around say, there are people from the previous administration who are still in government and continue to espouse the agenda of their boss. But PMB personally carried these ones over the line on his back. I'd expect that he'd charge them to respect his choices and offer support only. Instead, they are the ones running the show, and him to ruins! These men have all failed at politics and are back to ensure that Buhari does not go down as a legend who changed the way government is run.

In time, it'll all pass and his will be a case of a missed opportunity to show why he deserved a second chance to begin with. I hope his ousting will mark the beginning of the disappearance of the old style of leadership and a dead to the cabal in Nigeria.

This is why OBJ remains the Don Dada of naija politics. For all the talks about there being a force behind his emergence, he ended up being his own cabal.