17/12/2025
How Aisha Buhari influenced sack of former DSS boss, Lawal Daura
A new biography of the late former President, Muhammadu Buhari, written by Charles Omole, has revealed how former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, played a key role in the removal of Lawal Daura as Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The book, which was launched on Monday at the State House Conference Hall by President Bola Tinubu, detailed Aisha Buhari’s influence in the dramatic dismissal of Daura by then Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo.
According to the biography, the events surrounding Daura’s removal were linked to a broader scheme allegedly driven by powerful aides within A*o Rock, who were accused of spreading fake presidential directives to security chiefs ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries.
The book claims that some aides close to Buhari approached the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on the eve of the APC primaries. They allegedly presented fabricated “presidential orders” instructing the deployment of security forces to install then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the APC’s consensus presidential candidate.
According to Alkali Baba, a quiet meeting was held held in the build-up to the 2023 general elections, attended by the National Security Adviser, Service Chiefs, the DSS Director-General, and himself.
“The President addressed them plainly,” Alkali Baba recalled. “He said Nigerians should be allowed to vote for whom they wanted. Their job was to ensure security that would make that choice real, and he would provide the funding.”
However, on the morning of the APC primary, Alkali Baba said some influential individuals, described as people “close to the President,” approached three security chiefs — the IGP, the DSS DG, and the NIA DG — claiming there was a presidential order to deploy security to impose Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate.
Alkali Baba said he rejected the instruction and persuaded his colleagues to seek clarification directly from Buhari.
When they met the President, they informed him that security arrangements for the convention at Eagle Square were already in place and asked if there were any further instructions.
“He had none,” the IGP said.
Alkali Baba added that when the issue of Lawan’s alleged endorsement was raised, Buhari laughed and made it clear that he had not anointed any candidate.
“He repeated what he had always said: Nigerians should choose, and security agencies should not interfere with the wishes of party voters,” the book quoted him as saying.
Outside the meeting, those allegedly behind the plot were left disappointed after the IGP informed them that “the President had no candidate, and there would be no manipulation from the Villa through the security service.”
The biography concluded that individuals close to Buhari exploited his trust and misrepresented him, actions it said harmed the country without the former President’s knowledge.
