Hohoho President Buhari Slights Senate President Saraki & Speaker Dogara, In Protocol Gaffe At Budget Presentation

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday
committed a gaffe in protocol during his
presentation of the 2016 proposed budget to a
joint session of the National Assembly.
Immediately after acknowledging Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Buhari bypassed both Senate
President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the
House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara to
mention Governor Umar Tanko Al-Makura of
Nasarawa State.
SaharaReporters learned that the gaffe has led
to recriminations at the Presidency, with some
of Mr. Buhari’s staffers blaming the blunder on
Lawal Kazaure, a diplomat recently appointed as
the president's chief protocol officer.
A director at the National Intelligence Agency
(NIA), Mr. Kazaure was appointed as the
president's chief of protocol based on what one
Presidency source described as Mr. Buhari's
habit of trusting only people with whom he has
one form of relationship or another.
''Ambassador Kazaure's only qualification is
that he is married to Mr. President's niece. He is
married to the daughter of Lawan Daura.'' Said
the source. Mr. Daura has emerged as one of
the most powerful figures around President
Buhari.
Mr. Kazaure was a deputy director at the NIA
before he was redeployed to the Presidential
Villa. Two officials at the Presidency accused
the new chief of protocol of having little or no
knowledge of how protocols work, adding that
he had to be first named ''Ambassador'' on the
recommendation of the Director General of the
NIA before he could validly be appointed State
House Chief Protocol.
Typically, protocol heads are appointed from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with appointees
drawn from among the ranks of senior
ambassadors seasoned in protocol matters.
One source at the Presidency said Mr. Kazaure
had in the last two weeks transferred numerous
competent officials of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs out of the Villa and replaced them with
NIA officials he ''trusts to do his bidding.''
The source added that the newly recruited
officials’ lack of experience had contributed to
the president’s gaffe during his budget
presentation. ''They [the newly recruited officials]
did not know that, in the order of protocol, the
Senate President comes after the VP, followed
by the Speaker and the Chief Justice of the
Federation.''
A state governor occupies the 10th spot on the
protocol list at official state functions, one of
the irate Presidency officials told our
correspondent.