THE presidency has said that official portfolio was yet to be
assigned to Aisha, the wife of president Mohmmadu Buhari,
overruling what hitherto was known as “First Lady’s
office”. Apparently renaming it “Office of the Wife of the
President”, the presidency however stated that Mrs. Buhari
would, for now, be saddled with women and youth related
issues in the country.
The Presidency was reacting to allegations in some Nigerian
media that the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari has
moved into the First Lady’s office in the Aso Villa.
Describing the allegation as totally false and fictitious, the
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said that even though there
was absolutely nothing wrong with Mrs. Buhari making use
of the office space reserved for the First Lady, she had not
done so in her capacity.
Shehu stated that under president Buhari, the office shall be
completely different from what obtained in the past, saying
that the era of the First Ladies issuing oil wells and licenses
was gone.
“President Buhari promised that there would be a clear
difference between the role played by his wife during his
tenure and that played by many previous First Ladies. “All
that ostentation, ubiquitousness and arrogance we have come
to expect from the office are over and done with. Change
has come.
“The ideal platform from which she will be useful to
Nigeria’s women and children is still being thought out.
Once this has been concluded on, Mrs. Buhari’s role will
become clearer to all Nigerians. There will be nothing shady
or hidden about it. There will be no access to public funds. It
will be purely private and voluntary”, he said.
The presidential spokesman recalled that the time Mrs.
Buhari had to make use of the office was at the beginning of
the present administration.
President Buhari
He added that the meeting during which she hosted the wives
of governors was held in a section of the Villa’s banquet
hall, not in the First Lady’s office. “Her only visit to that
office was at the point of the take-over of the Villa by the
incoming administration.
“Out of respect to Mrs. Buhari, the Sierra-Leonian First
Lady, Mrs. SiaKoroma recently surrendered her position of
head of Africa’s First Ladies to Mrs. Buhari, inviting her
to take up the same seat which Mrs. Jonathan hurriedly
handed over a few weeks to the handover of her husband’s
government to President Buhari. Again, all these things are
currently under consideration and no decision has been
arrived at presently,” Shehu said.
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