Buhari Followed U.S Model In Asking Ministers To Go Through Abba Kyari – Presidency

The Presidency, on Saturday, said President Muhammadu Buhari followed the system in practice in the United States in asking his new ministers to channel all requests for meetings with him through his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this after criticisms trailed the directive issued by the President at the close of a two-day retreat organised for the 43 new ministers.

The President had reiterated the directive during his swearing in of the ministers last week.

“As I said yesterday (Tuesday), in terms of coordinating communication, kindly ensure that all submissions for my attention or meeting requests be channelled through the Chief of Staff while all Federal Executive Council matters be coordinated through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in order to speed up the process of decision-making,” he said.

But the directive was criticized by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which accused Buhari of reducing the ministers to Kyari’s clerical aides. The directive was also criticized by some Nigerians on social media.

But Shehu addressed the criticisms in a series of tweets on his verified Twitter account (@GarShehu) on Saturday night.

He said: “Recent media and social media reports on the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff to the President have suggested that the role has changed. This is not the case.

“Today, under the Buhari II administration the role of Chief of Staff remains the same as it was under Buhari.

“It is worth stressing that the role and responsibilities of the Chief of Staff and the method of communication and arranging scheduling between Cabinet members and the President are, in Nigeria, based on the US model, where the same system operates – and has done for decades.

“That role is to act as the head of the presidential administration at Aso Rock; to be an adviser to the President on any and all matters; to be the line manager for all staff at Aso Rock; and to manage appointments and scheduling for the President.

“In the traditional presidential system, it is a primary function of a Chief of Staff, which may vary according to the needs and desires of each President, to supervise key State House Staff, control access to the office and the person of the President, manage communications and information flow and this includes that which binds the relationship with the two other arms of government.

“During the President’s first term those were the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff, and they remain the same responsibilities today. There is no change.

“When President Buhari explained to ministers that they would be expected to communicate with him and arrange scheduling to meet with him primarily via the Chief of Staff,he did so as many of the Buhari II Cabinet ministerial appointments are new appointments and cannot therefore be expected to know how matters of liaising with the President operate.

The presidential aide added, “This is to stress that access to the President is open to ministers. It is not true that this is denied them in the Second Term.”