Page 36 President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, continued with his “usual nepotistic tradition of appointing close family members and allies into key positions in government”, by naming Alhaji Bashir Jamoh, as the new Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, according to Sahara Reporters.
Jamoh, who takes over Office from Dakuku Peterside, was the Executive Director, Administration and Finance, in the Agency, until his latest appointment.
A native of Kaduna, the 56-year-old is the incumbent President of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria.
Beyond that, Jamoh is the father-in-law of one of President Buhari’s “most powerful Aides, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf”.
Now in his early 30s, Yusuf is regarded as one of the closest and most powerful persons around Nigeria’s President.
In fact, on the corridors of power, only two persons, Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Buhari, and Mamman Daura, the nephew to the President, are believed to be more influential than him, especially when it comes to getting the attention and ears of Nigeria’s number one citizen.
Yusuf, who doubles as the Personal Assistant and Private Secretary to Buhari, is the son of Daura’s biological sister, Hajia Halima, who died in 2018, according Sahara Reporters.
Regarded as one of the wealthiest young men in Nigeria, today, Yusuf until his appointment by President Buhari, was said to be surviving on proceeds made from the sale of call cards, in his native Daura, a sleepy community in Katsina State, in the Northern part of the country.
He is said to have gotten the name ‘Tunde’, after being likened to late Tunde Idiagbon, Buhari’s second in Command during his Military regime, in the early 1980s, who was known to be powerful and strategic.
Shedding more light into the personality of Yusuf, while also revealing that the President had appointed four family members into key positions in government, Prof. Farooq Kperogi, one of Buhari’s staunchest critics, in 2019, said: “Among the people in the cabal, but very powerful and not known, is someone called Tunde, originally Sabiu Yusuf. He is the son of Mamman Daura’s immediate younger sister.
“He is today, P. A. to the President, even though he has never worked for one day in his life.
“That boy only got married last year, and is now one of the billionaires in Nigeria, today. Nobody of his age has the kind of money that boy has.
“Sabiu, who is in his 30s, is one of the most powerful people in Nigeria, today. He determines who sees and who does not see Buhari. Only Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari can overrule him.
“By several accounts, he is now a billionaire, although he had no formal work experience before Buhari became President. He used to sell recharge cards in Daura, until 2015.”
During Buhari’s 77th birthday, in December 2019, Yusuf was said to have worn a Patek Phillipe leather wristwatch, valued at $99,995.00, about N36 million, allegedly.
Two years before that time, in April 2017, precisely, Yusuf and the daughter of the new NIMASA DG, Fatima, got married in Kaduna, in a colourful ceremony attended by Nigeria’s high and mighty, including Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Abba Kyari, and a host of other influential citizens, including State Governors.
