'Why Chief of Staff must be an intermediary in any government'

By Ibraheem Olaleken

Chief of Staff to the President in any democratic government is the head of the Office of the President that is responsible for general management of presidential activities.
However, the Chief of Staff varies from administration to administration; and depends, not only on the qualities of the person appointed to the position but also on the style and management philosophy of the incumbent President.
President Muhammadu Buhari has played a critical role at making sure his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari is carried along in all his key responsibilities.
Buhari has severally cautioned ministers and other presidential appointees to pass through his Chief of Staff for all submission for attention or meeting request.
The key responsibility of a Gambari is to control the flow of people to Aso Villa and by also selecting key presidential staff by making sure they are supervised and structured in a well-organized means.
The Chief of Staff is also tasked with the responsibility of managing the flow of information by protecting the interests of the president, negotiating with the National Assembly and other branches of government to implement the president’s agenda.
Recall in 2019 that Buhari had instructed ministers to channel their meeting requests through his Chief of Staff, Late Abba Kyari.
But the instruction at the time-triggered different reactions, where some critics of the Buhari administration saying the president had handed over to Kyari.
Also in recent time, Buhari has also distinguished the work of the Secretary of the Government to the Federation and the Chief of Staff while speaking at the first-year ministerial performance review retreat of his administration.
He concluded that matters related to the federal executive council should be handled by the secretary to the government of the federation.
“Let me also reiterate that all submissions for my attention or meeting requests should be channelled through the chief of staff.”
“While all federal Executive council matters should be coordinated through the secretary to the government of the federation,” he added.