I Report To Buhari, Not Nigerians, Says New Chief Of Staff Gambari

President Muhammadu Buhari’s new Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, has suggested that his loyalty lies with the president and not Nigerians.

Gambari had attended Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting where he was officially announced as Buhari’s new Chief of Staff.

At the FEC meeting, he thanked the president for appointing him to replace the late Abba Kyari.

In his appreciation speech to President Buhari, Gambari pledged to render diligent service to the president.

“I will serve the nation, Mr President. He needs my loyalty, competence, and support. I will serve to the best of my ability”, said the president’s new Chief of Staff.

Some State House correspondents had after the FEC meeting quizzed him on what Nigerians should expect from him as Buhari’s new Chief of Staff, But Gambari noted that his allegiance lies with the president and not the nation.

“We have not started, I’ll have to find out. I don’t report directly to the nation, I report to the President,” said the new Chief of Staff.

75-year-old Gambari is a native of Ilorin in Kwara State.

He is the founder/chairman of the board of directors of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development.

According to SCDDD’s website, Gambari established the non-governmental think-tank “to focus on the nexus between peace, democracy and development” in Africa.

The scholar-diplomat had served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Buhari’s regime as Head of State.

He has held several diplomatic positions to include: United Nations Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005), Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990-1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990—1999), Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007), UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar and Special Representative in Angoa, among others.