Buhari’s Ex-Chief Of Staff Speaks On ‘Jubril Of Sudan’ Controversy

Former Chief of Staff to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, has dismissed longstanding conspiracy theories suggesting that the late Nigerian leader was replaced by an impostor known as ‘Jubril of Sudan’.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Gambari insisted that Buhari remained the same individual he had worked with during the 1984 military regime and later in his civilian administration.

Gambari said, “I’m sorry to disappoint. I had no doubt at all that the Buhari I knew in 1984 was the same until his death. That was really quite a silly thing to say, that he was a different person, Jubril of Sudan.”

Gambari, who served as Buhari’s Chief of Staff during his second term in office, said the late president often referenced past experiences they shared during the military era.

He said, “This man was talking to me when he offered me the job. He was talking to me about the things we did in 1984 and 1985, down to the details.

“He was talking about the kind of loyalty he got from me.”

Gambari criticised those who peddled the ‘Jubril’ narrative, attributing the rumour to a broader tendency among some Nigerians to distrust leadership.

“The fact is that you have people in this country who actually believe the worst about anything and any government,” he said.

The ‘Jubril of Sudan’ theory, which falsely claimed that President Buhari had died during a medical trip abroad and been replaced by a body double, gained traction on social media in 2018, despite repeated denials by the presidency and Buhari himself.

Buhari, who served as military Head of State from 1983 to 1985, returned to power as a democratically elected president in 2015 and served two terms until 2023.