Kinsmen of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) have attacked their brother’s wife, Aisha, for washing her dirty linen in public, saying attacking the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu is an insult to her husband, the president.
The kinsmen in Daura said this to the Punch on Wednesday, faulting Mrs Buhari for making what they called a purely private family affair public.
Mrs Buhari had in a statement on Wednesday attacked her husband’s spokesman, saying, “It was Garba Shehu, who claimed that the government would not allow the office of the first lady to run. He was later to confirm to one of my aides that he was instructed to say so by Mamman Daura and not the President. This antic attracted the anger of Nigerian women. He didn’t realise the fact that the first lady’s office is a tradition which has become an institution.”
But residents of Daura, the home town of the President, said the first lady should have reported the matter to her husband.
The Chairman of the Coalition of Associations in Daura, Mallam Muhammed Saleh, said attacking Shehu is same as attacking Buhari.
He said, “I try as much to refrain myself from commenting on the issue as some people are bound to misinterpret whatever one says on the issue. But I need to stress that this is a family affair which should be resolved.
“Attacking Garba Shehu who is the spokesperson for the President is akin to attacking the President himself and I think , this is not good enough. I will urge all of them to resolve any issue at stake privately.”
Another elder in Daura, Alhaji Usman Kalgo, said the first lady’s public outburst on Shehu was an insult to Buhari.
Kalgo said, “ If Aisha sees any shortcomings on the part of Garba Shehu or any other person working for her husband, the best person to complain to is her husband and not making the issue public.
“The President knew that Garba Shehu was competent before giving him the job of a spokesman and if there is a feud between Aisha and him or any other person, Aisha should respect her husband. She should report Shehu to her husband and not making it public. By making the issue public, she is giving a wrong impression of her husband, which is not good enough.”
The public got a rare confirmation that all is not well in the first family when in October the President’s nephew’s daughter, Fatima, released a video, revealing Mrs Buhari’s altercation with her family inside the villa.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa Service after her return from Europe in October, Mrs Buhari confirmed the authenticity of the video.
cpcnews.org 