Aisha Buhari Missing In Aso Rock For Two Months
Nigeria’s First lady, Aisha Buhari, has reportedly left the country and temporarily living in London, the United Kingdom in protest against “certain developments” at the presidency.
According to Daily Trust , Mrs. Buhari has been out of the country for about two months now, raising concerns at the Presidential Villa.
The newspaper quoted multiple sources at the presidential villa to have said that the First Lady, who left the country early August to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj (Muslim pilgrimage), has not returned to the country.
“Mama (first lady) is in London. It was from Saudi Arabia that she went to London,” one source told Daily Trust.
Asked when Mrs. Buhari is likely to return, the source said, “I don’t know. All I know is that she is in London.”
It was gathered that the absence of the First Lady became obvious after she did not appear alongside her husband at some recent official functions, followed by the way she was conspicuously absent during the Eid-El-Kabir celebration in Daura, Katsina State.
The President hosted many dignitaries including Guinean president, Alpha Conde, during the Sallah celebrations.
In early July this year, Mrs. Buhari supported her husband to host the Ambassador Extraordinary.
It has been observed that recently, at public events, the Senior Special Assistant to the president on administration, Dr. Hajo Sani, has been representing the president’s wife.
According to the report on Daily Trust, on September 25, the First Lady was represented at an event of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), New York by Dr. Hajo.
A statement from the Director of Information to the First Lady, the event was attended by first ladies of Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the Niger Republic while the President was one of the world leaders that attended the 74th UNGA.
The Daily Trust report added that efforts to get the reaction of her media aide, Suleiman Haruna, yielded no result.
The report said the same text message was sent to a presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Friday, who replied that her spokesperson should be contacted.
Recall that Mrs. Buhari had raised the alarm over the deteriorating security situation in the country.
During a visit to President Buhari’s home state (Katsina), Aisha, who hails from Adamawa State, said it would be unfortunate for people who voted wholeheartedly for her husband to be allowed to be killed unnecessarily by bandits.
She said people must speak out as the killings were worrisome and that if not tackled they could end up consuming everyone.
“When the Katsina SSG spoke out, I sent it to all security outfits in the country. I told them it’s either they go and help out or allow us all to be killed. It is a must for people to come out and speak. Anything that is not right, people should say it, no matter what,”
Mrs. Buhari had said.
Four days to the swearing-in of President Buhari for a second, the first lady faulted the implementation of the federal government’s Social Investment Programmes (SIP).
At a programme for women at the State House, Abuja, she said the SIP which had gulped N470.8 billion, had failed in the North.
The SIPs are the N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfers, National Home-Grown School Feeding and Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmes (GEEP).
Annually, the federal government budgets N500 billion for social investment.
However, in 2016, only N79.98 billion was released. In 2017, N140 billion was made available and in 2018, it was N250.4 billion.
Previously, she had attacked her husband’s administration drawing the worldwide’s attention when she criticized President Buhari in an October 2016 interview with the BBC, saying she feared Buhari’s regime was veering off from its mandate to the people.
Mrs. Buhari also expressed doubt that she would support President Buhari if he sought re-election unless he implemented immediate changes in personnel and policies.
But on the eve of this year’s general elections, Mrs. Buhari constituted a campaign team for President Buhari despite her threats.
The team, with about 700 members drawn from across the country, was inaugurated by President Buhari and played a key role in his re-election.