No personal vendetta here, Buhari and Dasuki are in-laws – says Biographer John Paden

President Buhari’s biographer, John Paden, has dismissed allegations of a personal vendetta by Buhari on embattled former former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

In his recently launched book titled ‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria,’ Paden stated that Buhari and Dasuki’s family have been united by marriage in the last four decades and that although Dasuki participated in the 1985 coup that forced him out of office, Buhari never begrudged him for his actions.
“It is beyond the scope of this study to assess all the backstories of the relationship between Buhari and Dasuki.

Suffice it to say that the so-called grudge between the two has never really existed. Dasuki is 12 years younger than Buhari, even though Dasuki did participate in the 1985 countercoup. The family of Ibrahim Dasuki and the Buhari extended family have been linked by marriage for more than four decades. In addition, in his inaugural address, Buhari had professed that although, ‘the past is prologue,’ he had no time to pursue alleged ‘enemies.’ Yet the real story has little to do with personal or political relationships. As noted throughout this study, Buhari has a strong belief in right and wrong.

He has an abiding respect for the Nigerian military as an institution that can help hold Nigeria together. From Buhari perspective, if corruption in military procurement undermines the integrity of the military, that corruption must be confronted.

And if such procurement allegations weaken the military response to Boko Haram and put ordinary foot soldiers at risk, that corruption poses a double threat, endangering even the Nigeria project itself” he wrote.