TheCable

Isa Funtua, an associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, says he is not a member of any cabal but a “cabal myself.”

Funtua, who hails from Katsina like the president, is among those whom critics of the Buhari administration refer to as the cabal.

At various times, Aisha, wife of the president, has said her husband’s government had been hijacked by some of his associates.

In an outburst in December, the wife of the president accused Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, of not being loyal to her husband but “to others who have no stake in the compact that the president signed with Nigerians on May 29, 2015 and 2019.”

When he appeared on The Morning Show, a programme on Arise Television, on Saturday, Funtua said it is an insult to say Buhari is running his government through a group of people.

Funtua accused people of using the term cabal in a derogatory manner, saying the president is free to have people he trusts around him.

“I’m not a member of any cabal, I’m cabal myself,” he said.

“What is cabal? In short I think it means kitchen cabinet, people that you trust. People you believe will not deceive you, that they can do things in the interest of the country.

“Nigerians are using it in a derogatory term not in the real meaning of it. Take dictionary, what is the real meaning of cabal?

When asked that first lady had alleged that cabal exists in the presidency, he said: “Please, let me hear word, I beg you.”