ABUJA — Former Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Lawal Daura, has blamed the failings of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on people around him whom he described as sycophants who betrayed the confidence reposed in them.
Daura, who is the vice-presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, aired Monday.
He also dismissed claims that Buhari’s administration was the worst in Nigeria’s history, urging critics to assess the country’s political history between 1995 and 2023 before reaching such a conclusion.
“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,” Daura said.
The former DSS chief said his position required him to remain close to Buhari and protect the administration, adding that he remained committed to the former president throughout his tenure as intelligence chief.
“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,” he said.
Daura said Buhari was surrounded by individuals he knew to be sycophants and claimed that he was aware of their activities.
“I know the details of what they have done,” he said, while rejecting suggestions that he belonged to a cabal that wielded influence around Buhari.
“No, there is no cabal,” Daura 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 him, the individuals he described as sycophants did not necessarily mislead Buhari but betrayed the trust the former president placed in them.
Daura said one major lesson from the Buhari administration was the need to separate personal relationships and loyalty from competence when making appointments to public offices.
He argued that friendship or association with a political leader should not automatically qualify an individual for public office, particularly sensitive positions requiring competence and integrity.
He said even trusted associates should be assessed based on their abilities before being appointed, adding that their positions should correspond with their competence and the level of confidence reposed in them.
Daura said Buhari’s administration ultimately suffered because some people were entrusted with responsibilities without adequate consideration of their suitability for the positions.
“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.”
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