Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has admitted that the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, constituted cabal in the Nigerian presidency. Bello, however, explained that it was done in demonstration of extreme loyalty to the president. Governor Bello was inversely saying that Abba Kyari was not a democrat or a transparent bureaucrat though the governor eulogized the late Chief of Staff.
Governor Bello on Sunrise Daily on Channels Television monitored from Lagos, expressed that extreme loyalty and capacity to deliver on assigned duties are the basic substances that sustain political appointments. The Governor appeared to infer that extreme loyalty and capacity to deliver on assigned duties by the president or governor can be done with disregard to established laws or national interest just to satisfy your employer. He emphasized that Abba Kyari did all he did when he was alive, including stepping on toes, in the interest of President Buhari.
“Like you know and those of us in authority, loyalty is number one. Secondly, your ability and character to discharge the duties and responsibilities discharged on you is one other thing.
“Mallam Abba Kyari was very loyal to Mr. President, very diligent, a professional per excellence and he is very passionate about the progress and development of Nigeria, not only to our party the APC but Nigeria, in general.
“So, such a person, if he is carrying out his duties and responsibilities, surely there is no way you will not step on toes one way or the other to ensure that the job is done. So, if he stepped on toes in one way or the other, it is just to ensure that he serves Mr. President diligently, that he did very well.
“He took a lot of bullets and took a lot of responsibility for that. There is no regret and there is no apology to that effect. In due course, we are going to miss this great Nigerian who sacrificed it all to ensure that we have the much modest achievement that we have today.
“So, if you say cabal, in one way or the other, yes.
“You will have one or two persons that are loyal to you who is ready to dare the devil and ensure that the job is done. If you call it a cabal, it depends on the angle you are looking at it from,” Governor Bello highlighted.