Days after widely reported rift between Chief of Staff (Cos) to the President, Mr Abba Kyari and National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Babagana Monguno, they met yesterday for the first time.

Kyari and Monguno were in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to witness the inauguration of a 12-member National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

For weeks, the duo has been at daggers drawn, with the NSA accusing the CoS of undue interference in matters bordering on national security, a role which is originally within the purview of his (Monguno) office, among other scathing allegations.

In a memo, the NSA had warned the president’s “all-powerful” chief of staff against meddling in security affairs in the presidency. He also warned the nation’s service chiefs to stop taking orders from Kyari, a civilian, and to be wary of his interferences.

The memo, addressed to the service chiefs and copied the president and ministers for foreign affairs, defence, interior, police affairs and Kyari himself, was dated December 9, 2019.

The two top officials have not met since the leaked memo penultimate Monday trended, while the presidency and CoS maintained a deafening silence.

But their meeting in Aso Rock yesterday was inevitable. Neither of the two could avoid it and it did not happen without a mild drama.

First to arrive at the venue of the NASC event, Kyari proceeded straight to his allotted chair in-between Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF) with the NSA sitting next.

Monguno sat two chairs away from Kyari who was seen engaging in a discussion with the SGF.

However, before the commencement of the scheduled ceremony, Kyari momentarily broke his chat and beckoned on the NSA to return to his originally allotted seat, but Monguno looked way. Eventually, Monguno returned to his original seat after a second pause and another subtle plea by the CoS. Both did not speak to each other. The mild drama took place shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Mr Buhari.

Kyari has long been hailed as one of the most powerful men in the Buhari presidency and allegedly the head of “a cabal” accused of running the Buhari administration behind closed doors.

The CoS is known to be one of the president’s closest aides. He plans Buhari’s schedules while ministers are said to queue in his office to see the president.

But Monguno said that Kyari’s directives to the military top leaders were sometimes issued without the knowledge, much less approval, of the president, a practice he said had added to government’s failure to contain the prevailing insecurity in the country.

The Guardian