Presidency Abolishes Office Of First Lady

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.

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.
-Vanguard