Buhari Had My Back’ – Lai Mohammed Reveals What Happened Inside Cabinet Meeting

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has recounted how a fellow cabinet member once criticised his performance in his absence during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, only for late President Muhammadu Buhari to firmly defend him.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Mohammed revealed the incident in his newly launched book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration, which documents his experiences serving under the Buhari administration.

According to him, the episode occurred while he was in Washington, DC, for his routine biannual engagements with international media organisations and policy think tanks.

“I was in Washington DC for the usual biannual engagements with the international media and think tanks,” Mohammed wrote.

He explained that he later learned a minister from the South-West had accused him of failing to adequately publicise the achievements of the administration during an FEC meeting.

“As I later found out, a minister from the South-West complained that despite the administration’s strong performance, the Minister of Information was not doing enough to showcase its achievements,” he stated.

Mohammed recalled that President Buhari immediately dismissed the criticism and rose to his defence.

“I was told that the President would have none of it. He promptly intervened, stating that I had been doing an excellent job promoting the administration’s achievements from abroad,” Mohammed wrote.

He added that Buhari told members of the council he had personally watched several of Mohammed’s television appearances where he robustly defended the government.

“There could not have been a stronger defence or a more reassuring presidential endorsement,” he noted.

The former minister also narrated how Buhari responded to a petition written against him during his tenure.

“One day, when I visited the President in his office, I noticed that his Aide-de-Camp appeared uneasy upon seeing me,” Mohammed recalled.

He said the ADC later informed him that a petition alleging wrongdoing had been forwarded to the President.

“The President glanced at the petition and said, ‘Lai? I don’t believe it!’” Mohammed wrote.

Despite his confidence in him, Buhari ordered a formal investigation, which later cleared Mohammed of all allegations.

Reflecting further, Mohammed said Buhari rarely turned down his requests while in office, except during one particularly sensitive episode — the controversial 2018 open letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which criticised Buhari’s administration and advised him against seeking re-election.

Mohammed said Buhari initially directed that no response should be issued, out of respect for Obasanjo’s seniority.

“I discussed the matter with Femi Adesina, who insisted that the President had instructed that no one should respond,” Mohammed wrote.

However, he maintained that responding was necessary in the national interest.

“I told him politely but firmly that this was about Nigeria and that we owed the country a response,” he said.

He described the exchange as nearly heated, adding that Buhari eventually granted reluctant approval, with the strict instruction that Obasanjo must not be insulted.

“I went ahead to issue a detailed statement, constantly mindful of the President’s admonition,” he wrote.

Mohammed said Buhari later commended the response, with several people reportedly telling the President that he had handled the matter well.

He also recalled how he almost cancelled a proposed trip for local and international journalists to areas reclaimed from Boko Haram in 2015.

According to him, the then Minister of Defence insisted that Buhari’s approval was required due to the involvement of troops and military equipment.

“I immediately contacted the Chief of Staff to the President, and the President approved the trip, even though I had not discussed it with him beforehand,” Mohammed wrote.

Mohammed further noted that Buhari consistently supported his ministry despite severe budgetary constraints.

“With the paltry budget allocated to the large ministry I supervised, it was almost impossible to fully implement our programmes,” he said, adding that special interventions approved by Buhari made several key initiatives possible.

Reflecting on Buhari’s leadership style, Mohammed said what stood out most was the former President’s quiet confidence in those he entrusted with responsibility.

“When President Buhari entrusted someone with an assignment, he also gave them the freedom to act, believing that responsibility itself carried wisdom,” he concluded.