A comprehensive new biography of late former President Muhammadu Buhari uncovers a brazen scheme by his close aides to hijack the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries through forged directives to top security agencies. Titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, the 600-page volume by Dr. Charles Omole details how influencers near Buhari issued counterfeit presidential orders on the eve of the Abuja convention, targeting then-Inspector-General of Police Usman Alkali Baba, the Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General, and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) chief. These instructions demanded security deployments to enforce Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s emergence as the party’s consensus candidate.
The plot collapsed when Alkali Baba dismissed the orders, rallied his security counterparts, and secured direct confirmation from Buhari himself. The former president disavowed any such directive, insisting he harbored no favored aspirant and that delegates must select freely without state interference. Sources in the book recount Buhari laughing off reports of premature celebrations in Lawan’s neighborhood, reiterating: “I have not anointed anyone. Nigerians should choose, and the security agencies must not interfere.”
Book Launch Highlights
Unveiled on December 15, 2025, at Abuja’s State House Conference Centre, the event drew President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gambian President Adama Barrow, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, former First Lady Aisha Buhari, governors, and security veterans. Tinubu praised the work for spotlighting Buhari’s discipline and democratic ethos. Omole positions the narrative as separating the man from presidency myths, exposing loyalty breaches and power abuses.
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Broader Villa Intrigues
Beyond the primaries fiasco, the biography exposes other tensions, including Aisha Buhari’s pivotal role in the 2018 ouster of DSS boss Lawal Daura, which Buhari upheld despite pressure to avoid undermining his deputy. It also describes gunfire erupting in the Presidential Villa from a family clash involving a First Lady aide’s policeman; Buhari’s Chief Security Officer arrested the officer, and a implicated nephew faced expulsion regardless of ties. These accounts frame Buhari as principled, resisting institutional manipulation even amid personal proximity exploitations.
