Kassim Shettima, a senator and former governor of Borno State on Thursday said there was nothing wrong with having a cabal in government, adding that he would gladly join the league of those he described as “power broker” if given the opportunity.
Shettima was speaking at the 17th Edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue held in Abuja with the theme: “20 Years of Democracy in Nigeria: Strengths, Weaknesses and Opportunities”.
The 2020 edition of the annual dialogue was attended by Namadi Sambo, a former vice president; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Lynda Ikpeazu of the House of Representatives among a host of other dignitaries.
Shettima utterances only lent credence to the assertion by many Nigerians that there exists a ‘cabal’ that determine what goes on in government.
The senator who palpably expressed his admiration for the ‘cabal’, said such system exists even in the most liberal and advanced democracies.
“…I like power and If I have my way, now that am in Abuja, I won’t mind being part of the cabals,” Mr Shettima, the chairman, Senate committee on Interior said.
The senator said such an arrangement even exists in more advanced democracies.
“When Jimmy Carter was the president of America, he had his own cabal. They were called the Georgia Gang. Almost all his appointees were from Georgia
“Even when our own brother, Barack Obama became president, about 16 top appointments in the Obama administration were from Chicago. His first two chief of staff, so also two secretaries, his two advisers were all from Chicago” he said
He said he would rather prefer to call it “power brokers or inner caucus”, noting that “Power does not exist in a vacuum”, he noted.
‘Cabal’ System
The word ‘cabal’ became entrenched in the consciousness of Nigerians during the 2012 oil subsidy removal furore. Then President Goodluck Jonathan said a notorious cabal were stunting the country’s growth and reaping from the fuel subsidy funds.
He said they were cause of the economic doldrums that bedeviled the country at the time.
Many Nigerians including the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, have also revealed that there is a cabal of people who influence decisions taken by President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidency.
While Mr Buhari and his aides have played down the notion of the ‘cabal’, Mr Shettima saw nothing wrong in a government having men behind the curtain.