Buhari-era military feud denied troops air support, claims presidential aide

Imagine fighting on the front lines against terrorists, calling for urgent air support, and hearing nothing but silence not because planes weren’t available, but because the generals in charge weren’t on speaking terms.

A bitter inter-service rivalry between the leadership of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration directly compromised frontline combat operations by leaving ground troops stranded without air cover, a presidential aide has revealed. Speaking on The Link Up Podcast, Daniel Bwala, a special adviser to President Bola Tinubu, claimed that deep-seated animosity between the top military brass routinely blocked critical aerial reinforcement, a systemic failure he asserts has now been resolved under the current administration.

Contrastingly, Bwala asserted that the security architecture has undergone a massive shift under the current Tinubu administration, noting that inter-agency cooperation has drastically improved to ensure maximum operational efficiency.

“I remember during Buhari there was this disagreement… so that whenever an operation was undertaken, when they asked for air cover, there wouldn’t be support,” Bwala said. “In this administration, it is not so. There is coordination or cooperation.” The presidential aide made these remarks while addressing widespread public concern regarding the potential infiltration of Nigeria’s security agencies by terrorist groups. While Bwala firmly dismissed theories that the military deliberately shields terrorists as mere “conjecture,” he conceded that isolated cases of individual compromise and espionage remain an unavoidable reality.

To put the infiltration into perspective, Bwala compared Nigeria’s challenges to global intelligence breaches, citing the famous case of former United States National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden. He hinted that the Nigerian government is currently implementing classified counter measures to weed out bad actors within the ranks. Furthermore, Bwala underscored the complex international dimensions of Nigeria’s security crisis.

He recalled the alarming appearance of Russian flags during recent protests in northern Nigeria and referenced a controversial U.S. congressional hearing where Congressman Scott Perry questioned the CIA over alleged, unverified funding links to Boko Haram and ISIS.

“An event like that has occurred, and as a country, we cannot hear that and say you are a liar,” Bwala stated, clarifying that he was merely highlighting the existence of the international discourse rather than validating the claims. Turning to the economy, Bwala fiercely defended President Tinubu’s track record, pointing to bolstered foreign reserves and enhanced revenue generation as major milestones. He concluded that while Tinubu has done “more than enough to earn the trust of Nigerians,” the citizens will ultimately decide his political future at the polls.