Buhari gets strong warning from his wife

– Aisha Buhari has warned her husband that she may not back him at the next election unless he shakes up his government

 – She says his government had been hijacked by a “few people” who are behind presidential appointments

 – The wife of the president claims Buhari “does not know” most of the top officials he has appointed
Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has warned her husband that she may not back him at the next election unless he shakes up his government, BBC reports. This comes even as she claimed the government had been hijacked by a “few people” who are behind presidential appointments.

Speaking in a BBC interview with Naziru Mikailu, Aisha Buhari said the president “does not know” most of the top officials he has appointed. 

She said: “The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don’t know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years.” She said people who did not share the vision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were now appointed to top posts because of the influence a “few people” wield.

According to her, “Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position.” When asked to name those who had hijacked the government, she refused, saying: “You will know them if you watch television.” On whether the president was in charge, she said: “That is left for the people to decide.”

Mrs Buhari said her husband had not told her whether he would contest the 2019 election, but said she will no partake in any of his campaigns if things continue this way till the next election. She said: “He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife, that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again.”

When asked what she regarded as the government’s major achievement, she said it was to improve security in the north-east where militant Islamist group Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009. She said: “No-one is complaining about being attacked in their own homes. Thankfully everyone can walk around freely, go to places of worship, etc. Even kids in Maiduguri have returned to schools.”

Even President Buhari had mounted pressure on the BBC Hausa Service not to air the full interview of Aisha Buhari. Excerpts of the interview were published on Tuesday, October 11 and in it, the first lady made some comments that has caught the attention of Nigerians.

In the interview, Aisha said the people who worked for her husband to become the president have been side-lined while some people have taken over his government. However, the service said the only way it will not air the interview is for the interviewee, Aisha Buhari, to decide against it. Even in that case her voice recanting what she had said in the interview would be aired.

Since her husband won the 2015 general election, Aisha Buhari has been involved in some controversies with the most common being when denounced herself as the first lady of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Aisha said this in a statement at the Appreciation Dinner at the state house last year.

She said: “I am not the first Lady, I am the wife of the President and will be addressed as such going forward.”