Buhari administration to scrap Office of First Lady

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews on August 22, 2015

The presidency has disclosed that an official portfolio was yet to be assigned to be Aisha, the wife of
President Muhmmadu Buhari, hinting of a possible scrapping of the First Ladys office and the
likelihood of renaming it Office of the Wife of the President.

The presidency also said Mrs.

Buhari would, for now, be saddled
with women and youth related
issues in the country.
The Presidency stated this while
reacting to allegations in some
Nigerian media that the wife of
President Muhammadu Buhari has
moved into the First Ladys office
in the Aso Villa.
According to a statement by the
Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Shehu Garba, the presidency described allegation as totally
false and fictitious, adding 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 contended that under President Buhari, the office shall be completely different from what
obtained in the past, adding 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.
The ideal platform from which she will be useful to Nigerias women and children is still being thought
out. Once this has been concluded on, Mrs. Buharis 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.
Shehu added that the time the only time Mrs. Buhari had to make use of the office was at the beginning
of the present administration, adding that the meeting during which she hosted the wives of governors
was held in a section of the Villas banquet hall, not in the First Ladys 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 Africas 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 husbands 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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