In a startling revelation, a former Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, has admitted that the immediate-past Muhammadu Buhari-led administration misled Nigerians during its eight-year tenure.
Dalung made the confession during an interview on the ‘Mic On Podcast’ with popular TV achor, Seun Okinboloye, on Sunday.
Dalung, a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) during Buhari’s first term in office between 2015 and 2019, expressed disappointment with the administration, accusing it of betraying the trust of the Nigerian people.
“I am completely disappointed because what we told Nigerians was not what happened. We lied; we deceived Nigerians. Even though we used ‘people deceive people,’ referring to the PDP, for our campaign, we were a replica of what we accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of,” Dalung stated.
He further claimed that President Buhari was used by political elites to achieve their goals, describing the former president as a “stranger in his own government.”
“Buhari’s charisma was needed at that time by the political elites to eliminate [Goodluck] Jonathan. Shortly after Buhari took over power, this set of political elites hijacked the government. Buhari was a stranger, and I can corroborate this because, in 2020, I went to see the president and told him, ‘Mr. President, this wasn’t what we told Nigerians.’”
Dalung recounted how he confronted Buhari about the worsening state of insecurity and hardship in the country at the time.
“When we came in, it was just the North-East that had security issues. By 2020, it was not even possible to travel from Abuja to Kaduna. I told the president, ‘If you don’t believe me, roll out a brigade of guards now, and I’ll join you. We’ll drive from Abuja to Daura. If bandits don’t attack us, I’ll go and die in exile.’”
“To be fair to the president, he expressed surprise, meaning that some of the things I told him, he was hearing for the very first time,” Dalung added.
The former minister also revealed that Buhari was often unaware of significant incidents occurring under his administration.
Dalung narrated an incident where the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) clashed in Asokoro District of Abuja, holding the community hostage for three days, without the president’s knowledge.
“It was me, during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, who informed him about the incident. I expected it to be on the agenda, but it wasn’t. I had to introduce it through AOB (Any Other Business), and the president was completely confused listening to what I was saying.
“At the end of the meeting, we even left without any closing prayer because he was visibly angry. On my way to the office, I saw those two agencies, directly under his office, holding a community hostage for three days over whatever interest they had, and the president didn’t know,” he recalled.
Dalung blamed the developments on a cabal around Buhari, including the National Security Adviser (NSA) at the time and other officials, for failing to inform him about critical happenings.
When asked if Buhari-led government was hijacked under his watch, Dalung responded affirmatively, suggesting that the former president’s integrity was exploited for political gain.
“For me, Buhari’s hurricane, his integrity, was a political tool needed to eliminate Jonathan and his government,” he said.
Dalung’s comments have sparked widespread reactions, shedding new light on the inner workings of the Buhari administration.