Next Level: Abba Kyari ‘Moves’ To Stop El-Rufai From Aso Rock

There are indications that the newly reappointed Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, is set to block the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, from having unfettered access to Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.

A report by Pointblanknews says the rivalry between the duo peaked as the diminutive Kaduna State reportedly schemed to edge out Kyari as Buhari’s Chief of Staff.

The online news platform quoted sources to have confirmed that El-Rufai had used his access to the President to snitch on politicians he doesn’t like and peddle influence.

Yaahoo Journalist recalls that a group staged at a protest at the National secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari extricate himself from the undue influences of his nephew, Mamman Daura, businessman Ismaila Funtua and Kyari, accusing them of dictating policies that are anti-APC and pro-opposition.

However, another group staged a counter-protest in favour of the Chief of Staff and others at the Villa, asking the president to ignore some people they described as ‘blackmailers’ who are being sponsored from within the administration.

In the protest letter submitted to the Presidential Villa and read to reporters, the convener of the rally, Dr. Paul Dowells Essen, said “Sir, your Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari is doing well. He is discharging his duty diligently, of course, those who want his office are not ghosts, they are neither PDP members, they are of the APC.

“While it is the right of every individual to aspire, it should be done with every sense of respect for the Office of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

The President, however, kept faith with Kyari by reappointing him as Chief of staff last week.

Speaking on the development, a Source in the Villa, said the chief of staff is on a mission to consolidate his grip on the levels of power at the Villa and his first target is cutting the Kaduna governor to size.

The source said, “Abba Kyari does not want to see Elrufai near the villa again. He has gotten back his job as Chief of staff and wants to show his strength.

“But Elrufai and his family are angry. They are still fighting the CoS. Now, the CoS wants to show them who owns the villa,” the source disclosed.