Lawal idris, a 45-year associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, has traced all the problems confronting the President to Mamman Daura, his nephew.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, Idris stated that although Buhari said during his inaugural speech that he belonged to everybody and he belonged to nobody, he actually does belong to Daura.

“All the problems of Buhari were caused by Mamman — he is the godfather of Buhari’s problems. I know it, he too knows it but whether Buhari knows or not, I cannot say,” he said.

“He is a very sneaky fellow and Buhari may never know; I pray God would let him know and afterwards the choice is his…

“Among those who worked for Buhari, I have not seen anybody that got anything. No one at all unless those chosen by Mamman…. Mamman is a sadist and has no respect for anybody, not even Buhari.”

Making reference to Daura in other parts of the interview, he said: “…the problem is that the godfather never sleeps, which is Mamman Daura….

“Number one, when Buhari was sworn in, he swore by the Qur’an that he would be fair and we believed him. He said he belonged to no one but I knew he belong to Mamman Daura; Abba Kyari and Mamman are failed bankers and failed industrialists. As of 29 November, 2016, Abba was still a Director of Exxon Mobil; Abba is Buhari’s Chief of Staff, he is a member of the Board of Directors of NNPC — what a super brainy workaholic?

“And Abba is Mamman’s poodle; whatever Abba is doing, it is Mamman that controls it. I know it and they know that I know it and they know me very well.”

Asked why he was specifically blaming only those two people when Buhari has ministers and other staff, he replied: “I am even blaming only one; that is why I am calling Abba Kyari a poodle of Mamman. How did he [Buhari] get some of the ministers? Many were through Mamman Daura. How did he get some of the staff around him, it was through Mamman Daura.

“I am more than sure. Buhari knows I know and Mamman knows I know. I am an insider, not an outsider. I started this project because of the faith I had in Buhari. And I will tell you something; Mamman never wanted Buhari’s presidency.

“I will only use one example and I wish Mamman Daura was alive…to deny it. Buhari has an elder brother, Mamman Daura, very few people ever heard of him and he was the best Mamman Daura I knew. I knew that one in 1970, he and President Buhari had the same father and the same mother.

“This other Mamman Daura is just a joke. I said this Mamman never wanted Buhari’s presidency because a week after Buhari was sworn-in, on Friday, we met at a mosque here in Kaduna. I walked to Mamman to greet him; there was this confidence that had taken a better part of him, like he is now Mr President.

“Mamman told me that he and Mahmud didn’t like Buhari’s presidency. And I said ‘ranka ya dade’, you don’t like it?’ And he said ‘yes’. I was surprised and he saw the surprise on my face. He just changed the topic and said, ‘you know uncle [Buhari] does not like politicians and politicians don’t like him’.

“I said, ‘Sir, but election has been won. Whether politicians like it or not, whether Buhari likes it or not, he has to work with politicians and politicians have to work with him for the betterment of our country’. For me, God has given me what I wanted.

“When Mamman told me that, I offered suggestions on even the way to get finances for the party. I said the way they were going was not the way they should. Now there is no APC in a way and Buhari is ill. Luckily Buhari has a very good vice president.”

It is not the first time Daura has been fingered as the one running Buhari’s government.

In October 2016, Aisha, the President’s wife, famously complained to BBC that she would not campaign for her husband in 2019 if he continued handing appointments to “certain elements who did not share the vision of the All Progressives Congress (APC)”. She said those appointments were given due to the influence of some individuals, among whom was Daura.

Buhari has dispelled the notion that he is being controlled by Daura, once telling an interviewer: “I don’t know where they get their news from.”