A political scientist and Professor at the Bayero University, Kano, Kamilu Sani Fagge, has lamented the impact of cabals in the government of President Bola Tinubu.
The professor argued that cabals, who sometimes go by other names such as kitchen cabinet or deep state members are not peculiar to the Nigerian setting, but what operates in Nigeria is quite different.
According to him, although cabals are powerful and influential across all climes, they rarely interfere with the day-to-day running of the government like what obtains in Nigeria.
He recalled the activities of such cabals in the administrations of former Presidents Umar Musa Yaradua and Muhammadu Buhari, revealing that the same thing is happening in the government of President Bola Tinubu.
In his submission during an interview with Daily Trust, Fagge submitted that the current crop of cabals are shielding the President from the people and exerting a lot of influence on government policies and decisions.
He said most of them are personal acquaintances of the President and may include his wife, children, relatives or former political acquaintances.
He said, “In many countries all over the world, there are certain formal and informal groups that exercise influence on the president. Formerly, they were known as inner or kitchen cabinet, comprising confidants of the president. They are usually very loyal; and they are the ones that exercise great influence on policies made by the president. Usually, based on the relationship with the president, they exert such influence.
“Secondly, there is what is known as a deep state—a group of people that are very influential and close to the government. They exercise powerful influence on the government.
“Usually, in other climes, kitchen cabinets of the deep state are formal and constitutionally recognised; and sometimes, the president formally appoints them to such positions. It may be a group of ministers, personal friends and others that are very close to the president. They exercise influence but don’t interfere the way we are seeing it in developing countries, especially here in Nigeria.
“What we are having now is a group of people who tend to shield the president from the people; and they exercise a lot of influence. Most of them are personal acquaintances to the president. Sometimes they may include his wife, children, relatives or former political acquaintances. He would bring them together and they would become so powerful that they dictate the tune of public policies and shield the president from the electorate or the society, to the extent that he may not be aware of what is going on in the country.
“We have had it so many times in our history. Remember that during Yar’adua we had people that were so powerful that even when he was ill, they did not allow Nigerians to know the actual situation. They did so many things that were unconstitutional; and therefore, wrong.
“Even during the time of Buhari, we had a cabal that directed state policies. In fact, they became so powerful that even constitutionally recognised institutions had to go through them. And sometimes they hijacked policies initiated by constitutionally recognised institutions.”
