He is only a young man, but he is one of the most powerful men in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, a position he inadvertently assumed after his uncle became president. He is a member of the much talked about cabal operating in Aso Rock and is alleged to be responsible for how the cabal operates following the death of Abba Kyari, the late chief of staff who held that position until he passed on. He has the ears and eyes of the president as his uncle’s private secretary and therefore utilizes it as he pleases, to wield enormous power and influence, much more than Aisha, the president’s wife, with whom he is at loggerheads with.
Tunde Sabiu whom Buhari named after the late Tunde Idiagbon, his former number two man during his regime as a military Head of State, decides who sees and speaks with his uncle, no matter how important the personality is. If he thinks you don’t deserve the attention of his uncle, regardless of how important your reasons for wanting to see him are, even if your reasons are of importance to national security, Tunde will ensure your request does not fly. If you call him the unofficial Nigerian president, you may not be wrong or how else would you describe one who allegedly takes briefings from military chiefs and then relays the message to his uncle?
One of those who got in large doses, his ‘special screening treatment’ is the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. That Tunde gave Tinubu countless sleepless nights before his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC the president-elect, would be simply putting it mildly. Tunde, who is old enough to be Tinubu’s son, made sure that it was easier for the biblical proverbial camel to pass through the eye of the needle than it was for Tinubu to see the president.
He ensured he blocked every possible avenue for Tinubu to have an audience with Buhari. Phone calls are usually routed through him to Buhari but each time a call comes through and it is Tinubu on the other side, he either refuses to pick the call or gives the excuse that the president is busy but he never relayed such calls from Tinubu to his uncle. This and several more instances frustrated Tinubu so much and was the root cause of some of his outbursts during his campaign. Tunde also tried to fly the Fulani agenda kite, vowing to ensure that Tinubu’s presidential aspiration doesn’t see the light of day.
This may allegedly have been responsible for why Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, felt confident of winning the presidential elections and called the bluff of the G-5 governors – Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. Tunde’s silent behind the scene moves to scuttle Tinubu’s ambition put palpable fear in the president-elect’s camp that a certain northern governor who would ordinarily not boldly accuse the president of incompetence, began running from pillar to post and granting interviews.
But February 25 has come and gone and Tunde’s plans boomeranged in his face. Whether he still has some chess moves up his sleeves remains to be seen. But in the days after INEC declared Tinubu the president-elect, he had a chance encounter with Tunde. Tinubu had travelled to present his certificate of return to Buhari in faraway Daura, Katsina State when he bumped into Tunde who wasn’t too happy to see him as he looked visibly upset.
Tinubu in his characteristic manner exchanged greetings with him not minding Tunde’s atrocities against him. He reminded Tunde about how he ruthlessly blocked him from having access to Buhari and ended his short exchange with him with, “we shall see.”
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
