Pat Stevens/
Fatima Buhari, daughter of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, has delivered startling claims that official documents from her father’s presidency contained forged signatures, according to a new authorised biography.
The revelations come in ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,’ penned by Charles Omole and launched in Abuja this week.
A trained forensic auditor, Fatima said she examined several presidential papers and alerted her father to signatures that did not match his own.
She added that others within the administration had raised similar concerns about falsified approvals and directives.
Her account also paints a picture of widespread administrative tampering.
In one instance, she recounts, her father delivered a speech in the United States that differed from the printed text he later discovered had been altered after he approved it.
On that occasion, she said, he set aside the amended script and spoke in his own words.
Fatima stressed that document forgery was not unique to her father’s tenure, asserting that previous Nigerian governments faced the same challenge.
The book goes further than forged signatures. It suggests the late president believed parts of his official residence were under surveillance, prompting him and Fatima to communicate in writing at times, fearing conversations were being listened to.
This is not the first time Buhari’s signature has attracted scrutiny.
In a high-profile court case in 2024, forensic examiners testified that his signature had been forged on documents used to authorise the withdrawal of US$6.23 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria, part of the trial of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The biography also highlights internal tensions within the former president’s inner circle, with Fatima describing how aides, notably his private secretary, wielded outsized influence over access to him and the flow of official paperwork.
President Bola Tinubu, speaking at the book’s unveiling, praised Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity and urged Nigerians to learn from the account’s blend of achievements and flaws.
The revelations are likely to intensify public debate over record-keeping, accountability and the handling of official documentation during Buhari’s eight-year tenure.
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