Corporal Tumba Garba (retd.), a retired serviceman who also acted as President Muhammadu Buhari’s driver, has disclosed some hitherto unknown things about the president.
Garba, who is the father of Sen. Binta Masi Garba, made the disclosure In an interview with The Punch published on Saturday,.
He said, “I fought in the civil war. Our division was stationed in Enugu. Two years after the war ended, my division returned to Kaduna. Later that year, after our division returned to Kaduna, I was appointed a standby driver attached to the fleet for all foreign dignitaries.
“I drove every important foreign dignitary. I drove almost all the top-ranking military officers of that era also. There was no important personality that I didn’t drive.
“I drove former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I also drove late General Murtala Mohammed, General Sani Abacha, General Jeremiah Useni (retd.), and Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.) when he was the Chief of Staff. I also drove General M.B. Haruna and even General Paul Tarfa (retd.).”
Garba also narrated how he drove President Muhammadu Buhari as a colonel in the Nigerian Army.
He said, “He (Buhari) was the General Officer Commanding Zone 3 before he became the Director of Supply and Transport. I drove him when he was the director of military supply and transport.”
Speaking of his knowledge of Buhari, Garba added, “Buhari is one person who cares for your welfare. He wouldn’t cheat. The Buhari I know would take hours to finish a bottle of soft drink. One bottle of soft drink was too much for him to finish in five hours.
“He abhors corruption and is also a man of few words, who rarely speaks. He hates cheating. I also know he served in different capacities and went for several courses in the army before he became the governor of the North-East; Minister of Petroleum; and General Officer Commanding 3 Division in Jos, from where he went on to become the military head of state, after the coup that overthrew the civilian government of Shehu Shagari.”
Following the overthrow of the Shehu Shagari regime, Garba said he felt happy for Buhari, but was sad that he never had the opportunity of seeing him again – until 2015 when he became a civilian President.
He said, “I decided I wanted to see him after failed attempts in the past to see him as a military man. But my daughter, who is now a serving senator, questioned my curiosity. She wanted to know my relationship with Buhari. I simply replied, ‘I was once his driver.’ Many people asked me the same question when Binta was taking me to meet with the President.
“Eventually, I saw him. We hugged each other and took pictures. I sat close to him and he felt very happy. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Buhari told me, ‘Garba, it’s been long. It’s good to see you after all this while.’”