A former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says his appointment by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 was based on years of trust, shared convictions, loyalty and service, not a single event.
Mohammed, who served as information minister for almost eight years under Buhari, made this known in his book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration.
The book was launched in Abuja on December 17, 2025, to mark what would have been Buhari’s 83rd birthday, and documents Mohammed’s experiences while serving under the late President.
He recalled that after Buhari’s inauguration on May 29, 2015, the naming of cabinet members took some time.
However, due to the confidence Buhari had in him, Mohammed said he was personally appointed to the Ahmed Joda-led Transition Committee in April 2015, even though the committee members had earlier been announced.
The committee was responsible for engaging with the outgoing administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, reviewing handover notes and preparing a transition blueprint for the incoming government.
Mohammed recounted the phone conversation that led to his appointment: “‘Hello,’ the voice on the line said. ‘Is this Alhaji Lai Mohammed?’ I answered in the affirmative. ‘Hold on for Mr President,’ the voice said.
“Then another voice, apparently that of the President-elect, came on the line and asked: ‘Lai, where are you?’
“‘Your Excellency, I am in Lagos.’
“‘What are you doing in Lagos?’ he asked.
“‘I live in Lagos, Your Excellency,’ I replied.
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“He then went straight to the reason for the call: ‘Are you not coming for the inaugural meeting of the Transition Committee in Abuja tomorrow?’
“I replied, ‘Your Excellency, I am not a member of the committee.’ He then said, ‘Ok, Tunde (Sabiu, his longtime personal assistant) will call you,’ and he hung up.
“Within the hour, I received a call from Tunde, who asked where he should deliver the letter appointing me to the transition committee,” Mohammed narrated in the book.
He said he did not feel offended when his name was initially missing from the committee list, adding that he was simply pleased that his party had won the election.
According to him, the personal appointment marked the start of a close relationship that lasted until Buhari’s death on July 13, 2025.
Mohammed also said that shortly before Buhari’s 100th day in office, a close associate of the President asked him to assist the presidential spokesmen ahead of the milestone.
At the time, Buhari had not appointed ministers but had named Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu as his spokespersons.
“I did not need a soothsayer to tell me that the call was a further indication of the President’s confidence in me.
“The same confidant told me on another occasion that if there was anyone the President was very sure would make his cabinet and whose portfolio he was already sure of, that person was me,” he wrote.
Mohammed said his relationship with Buhari dated back to 2012, when he asked, through Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, that Buhari write the foreword to his first book, Witness to History. Buhari agreed, wrote the foreword and attended the book launch.
He said their next major interaction came during preparations for the 2015 general election following the merger that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mohammed, who served as spokesman for the Action Congress of Nigeria and later the APC for over a decade, said he regularly attended meetings with Buhari in Kaduna alongside President Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, usually on Mondays and Thursdays.
He said the sustained engagement, mutual respect and shared political ideals formed the basis of the trust Buhari later placed in him.
“Serving in Buhari’s administration for nearly eight years allowed me to witness firsthand the former President’s dedication to discipline, integrity, and national service—values that guided my own conduct in office,” Mohammed said.
(NAN)