A former Chief of Staff to the late ex-President, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Gambari, has debunked claims that a cabal hijacked power during the immediate past administration.

BEYOND AFRICA reports that Gambari, in an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ Programme, insisted that every president had a cabal.

According to Gambari, the cabals are people close to the presidents who share experiences and a perception of the future.

He stressed that those in Buhari’s cabal know their limitation and dare not go beyond them.

Gambari emphasised that Buhari’s personal leadership style ultimately placed clear limits on the influence of anyone around him.

He said, “Every president had a cabal of a sort. You might call them the inner circle or the inner caucus or so. (These are) people who are close to them that have some shared experiences, a perception of the future and those they’ve known a lot who can tell them to their face.

“Sadly, some cabals tend to want to tell the president not what he needs to know, but what he wants to hear. They exist in every government. Some are more influential than the others. Some are more faithful to the principle than others, but they all exist.

“Now, what I see is simply that sometimes more powers are ascribed to this cabal than actually is the case. This is because I know the so-called people who are called cabal in Buhari’s administration knew their limitations and they dare not push beyond that.

“Everybody also knew Buhari had what I call creative stubbornness. Something similar in a way to the late Chief (Obafemi) Awolowo in terms of just stubbornness, what they believe and the direction in which they want to move.”