How Buhari’s aides issued fake orders to install Lawan as presidential candidate

Influential aides close to former President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly issued fake presidential directives to top security chiefs ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in 2023 in an attempt to install ex-Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s candidate.

The revelation is contained in a new biography, ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, authored by Dr. Charles Omole and launched at the State House Conference Hall in Abuja on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

According to the book, some aides approached the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), claiming they were acting on Buhari’s instructions to deploy security agencies in support of Lawan as the APC’s consensus candidate.

However, the then IGP, Alkali Baba, reportedly rejected the directive and, alongside the heads of the DSS and NIA, sought an urgent audience with Buhari to verify the order.

During the meeting, the former president denied endorsing any candidate and reiterated his long-held position that Nigerians and party members should freely choose their leaders without interference from security agencies.

The book quoted the former president as instructing security chiefs to focus solely on providing a safe environment for credible elections, stressing that he had not anointed any aspirant for the party’s ticket.

The book said: “The IGP recalls a quiet meeting in the run-up to the 2023 general elections: the National Security Adviser, the Service Chiefs, the Director-General of the State Security Service, and himself were present.

“The President addressed them plainly. He was going to the ruling party’s last caucus meeting and would say, once again, that Nigerians should be allowed to vote for whom they wanted.

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“Their job, he said, was to ensure the security that would make that choice real, and he would provide the funding to do it.

“There was nothing performative about the instruction. It was, rather, the culmination of a stance Buhari had taken repeatedly and, at times, at cost to his own party’s short-term comfort – elections must be credible; citizens must choose.”

The biography further stated that those behind the alleged plot were informed that Buhari had no preferred candidate and that the security services would not be used to influence the primaries.

The book also revealed that former First Lady, Aisha, played a key role in the removal of former DSS Director-General Lawal Daura during the period when ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo served as acting president.

It noted that Buhari declined to overturn Osinbajo’s decision, insisting on respecting institutional authority.

The Star