By Muhammad Mamman
A newly released biography of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed a dramatic attempt by powerful aides to manipulate the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries through forged presidential directives aimed at installing then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the party’s consensus candidate.
The revelations are contained in From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Dr Charles Omole and unveiled on December 15, 2025, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. The book launch drew top political figures, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to the account, the plot unfolded on the eve of the APC primaries, when aides close to Buhari allegedly issued counterfeit orders in his name to senior security chiefs. The directives purportedly instructed the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba; the Director-General of the Department of State Services; and the head of the National Intelligence Agency to deploy security assets to ensure Lawan’s emergence as the party’s candidate.
The plan reportedly unravelled when Mr Alkali Baba refused to act on the instructions and sought clarification from his counterparts before contacting Buhari directly. The former president, the book says, flatly denied authorising any such orders, stressing that he had no preferred candidate and that the democratic process must be allowed to run its course without interference.
Buhari is said to have reacted with amusement on learning that celebrations had already begun in Lawan’s neighbourhood over the supposed endorsement.
“He made it clear: he had not anointed anyone. Nigerians should choose, and the security agencies must not interfere,” the biography quotes sources familiar with the incident as saying.
Dr Omole’s account presents the episode as a defining moment of Buhari’s presidency, portraying him as resisting pressure to deploy state institutions for partisan advantage. The book also revisits other tense moments within the administration, including the 2018 dismissal of then DSS Director-General Lawal Daura and a separate internal family dispute at the Presidential Villa that reportedly involved gunfire.
The disclosures offer a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes power struggles that shaped Nigeria’s recent political history and add fresh perspective to the turbulent build-up to the 2022 presidential race.
