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Tag: Aisha Buhari

  • Aisha Buhari: blood thicker than water

    THE First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, on New Year ‘s Eve stunned the opposition and proved critics wrong when she raised a 700-member campaign team to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid. The development dispelled rumours of a strain in the relationship between the First Lady and her husband over the 2019 poll. A source in the presidency said the First Lady has never said she won’t support the second term aspiration of the President.

    The source said although she has always criticized the administration of her husband, she believes President Buhari deserves a second term in office. He said: “There is nothing like a change of mind against the second term  bid of the President. She is fully in support of her husband’s re-election.  It is untrue, she has never said that the President should not take a shot at the presidency again. In fact, when she went through the list of members of the Presidential Campaign Council of the APC, she observed some mobilization gaps to be filled. And she worked with the party to produce a list in order to take the re-election campaign to the grassroots. She is actually going for broke, she is coming out forcefully to campaign for her husband. Her occasional criticisms of the administration of President Buhari were to exercise her democratic rights.”

    What the source did not tell Sentry is that blood is thicker than water. No matter the tension in the “Other Room” a good wife is always expected to support her spouse.

  • Aisha Buhari, Osinbajo’s wife head APC’s women/youth presidential team

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has named the President wife, Hajia Aisha Buhari, as the chairperson of its Women and Youths Presidential Campaign team for the forthcoming general election.

    She will be assisted by the Vice President’s wife, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, who will serve also as the team’s co-chairman.

    Their appointments were contained in a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Director of Information in the Office of the President’s wife, Mr. Suleiman Haruna.

    According to Haruna, the team will be inaugurated today by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa at 2pm.

    The appointees have a mandate to campaign vigorously for the re-election of Buhari and Osinbajo in the February 16 presidential poll.

    The list of the appointees also has the APC National Woman Leader, Hajiya Salamatu Baiwa, as the National Coordinator.

    Other executive team leaders include: Mrs. Adejoke Adefulire as vice chairman (South), Mrs. Mairo Al-Makura as vice chairman (North) and Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagu as deputy national coordinator (South).

    According to the statement, Hajiya Binta Muazu will serve as the deputy national coordinator (North), with Mrs. Rashida Yahaya Bello as zonal coordinator (Northcentral), Mrs. Hadiza Mohammad Abubakar for Northeast, Dr. Zainab Atiku Bagudu for Northwest and Mrs. Nkechi Rochas Okorocha for Southeast.

    Mrs. Florence Abiola Ajimobi will coordinate women and youths from the Southwest zone and Mrs. Judith Chibuike Amaechi would coordinate the Southsouth women and youths for the exercise.

    The statement added that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration, Dr. Hajo Sani, will serve as the team’s Administrative Secretary.

    Other members of the campaign team include: artistes and celebrities from Nollywood and Kannywood as well as technocrats, politicians, academicians and the business class.

    The statement announced the establishment of an advisory council for the campaign team, comprising serving and ex-ministers, governors, legislators and security officers as well as top public officers.

    To serve on the council are: Youth & Sports Minister Solomon Dalung; Comptroller-General of Customs Col. Hameed Ali; retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba; Brig.-Gen. Jafaru Isa, Gen. Buba Marwa; former governors Orji Ozu Kalu (Abia); Sullivan Chime (Enugu) and Sen. Ali Modu Sherrif (Borno).

    Others are: Dr. Mohammed Mahmud; Dame Pauline Tallen; Hajiya Naajatu Mohammed; Prof. Pat Utomi; Dr. Nasiru Ladan; Prince Tonye Princewill; Festus Keyamo (SAN); Muniz Banire (SAN); Amb. Justice Muhammadu Dodo; Amb. Baba Jidda; Amb. Deborah Iliya; Amb. Suzanne Aderonke Folarin; Amb. Ayuba Ngbako; Mr. Terry Waya; Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi and Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki-Nakande.

  • Aisha Buhari tasks Nigerians on sharing

    The wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has tasked well-to-do Nigerians to imbibe virtue of sharing. Speaking at the 10th anniversary of the Emmanuel Umohinyang Foundation in Lagos, she said sharing and assisting the poor in solving their problems promotes good neighbourliness. Mrs. Buhari who was represented by her brother Usman Halilu, therefore tasked Nigerians who have the resources to embrace the virtue.

    She praised the Emmanuel Umohinyang Foundation for finding it worthy to spare a thought for the poor especially at this time. According to her, this in view of the fact that the world will be a better place if the rich see giving as a call to duty. Mr. Umohinyang whose foundation gave out several items including bags of rice, chairs, musical instruments scholarships, air conditioner among others, said the initiative gives him great joy.

    “You need to see the impact the first lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari is making through her future assured programme across the country. If you visit Yola, you will marvel at the medical facility built by the organization for the less privileged. I like to serve people. I am always happy to give to the poor and I assure you that we shall try to do more next year,” he assured.

     

  • Aisha Buhari predicts Emmanuel’s move to APC

    Wife of the President Mrs. Aisha Buhari has predicted that Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel and his wife, Martha, will join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    She spoke in Uyo while inaugurating an empowerment programme for over 11,600 Akwa Ibom women, sponsored by the Future Assured programme, in conjunction with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

    Mrs. Buhari said the incident at the Victor Attah International Airport when she arrived was an indication that Akwa Ibom State would become an APC state.

    She said: “What happened at the airport to me is just mere politics, but when it comes to President Muhammadu Buhari, it is all about a movement, and we have Senator Akpabio in Akwa Ibom to lead the movement.

    “As you know, the President is a man of integrity, and for those who believe in his ideology, they should play politics with morality and integrity. What happened at the airport has shown that almost everybody in Akwa Ibom has entered APC, and soon Mr. and Mrs. Udom Emmanuel will join us.”

    Mrs. Buhari, who thanked NDE for empowering women and youths, recalled that her programme had empowered people across the six geopolitical zones.

    She added: “It pleases me to be here to address you on this empowerment and training programme for women and youths, organised by the NDE in collaboration with my Future Assured Programme

    “Since the beginning of this administration, we have empowered thousands of women and youths across the six geopolitical zones of the country. This has been in line with my pledge to contribute to reducing poverty to ensure that women are self-reliant.”

    The President’s wife said the NDE programme would empower 7,600 women and youths, saying the programme included training for 1,500 women and youths, disbursement of N5,000 each to 1,000 women with starter parks, interest-free loan to 1,100 beneficiaries, and issuance of certificates to 5,000 beneficiaries.

    “Future Assured Programme contributes to this programme with the empowerment of 4,000 women. As you are all know that women economic empowerment programme cannot be over emphasised, it specifically addresses five goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as, poverty alleviation, hunger eradication, gender equality, provision of good jobs and economic growth,” she said.

    She thanked Senator Godswill Akpabio for initiating the programme, and the Director General of NDE, Muhammad Lawan, for allowing it to succeed.

    Lawan thanked the President’s wife for improving the lives of the displaced, disabled and the disadvantaged. He hailed Akpabio and his wife for hosting the event.

    He reiterated that the programme would empower 1,000 young men and women with N10,000 each, with additional N10,000 each to 3,000 young men and women.

    The NDE chief said another set of 1,000 women would be trained on cosmetology with starter packs, worth of N40,000 and N5,000.

    He added that 1,500 young men and women would be trained across the state, while 6,000 would receive certificates to enable them access CBN loans.

  • We don’t need foreign agencies to fight HIV – Aisha Buhari

    Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, says Nigeria has enough resources to provide treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, (PLWHA) without depending on foreign agencies.

    Mrs Buhari made the assertion at the launch of Free to Shine Campaign against Childhood Aids, at the Secretariat of African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) on Friday in Abuja.

    The theme of the campaign was “Transforming Africa through Prioritising Children, Adolescents and Mothers in the fight against HIV/AIDS. “

    The wife of the president called on the Ministry of Health to create a platform that would mobilise funds from government agencies to provide adequate healthcare for the PLWHA.

    She listed such agencies to include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    Mrs Buhari, however, restated her commitment to the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV in the country.

    “We don’t need to get other foreign agencies involved in taking care of our people.

    “I believe that we have the resources which if utilised judiciously, will make all of us feel comfortable living in Nigeria,” she said.

    She explained that free to shine campaign was designed to complement ongoing efforts towards the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV and syphilis on the African continent.

    Mrs Buhari also said that first ladies in Africa had committed themselves to the campaign with the aim at ending childhood AIDS in Africa by 2030 and keeping mothers healthy.

    She said, “Many people living with HIV in Nigeria are unaware of their status, despite this challenge.

    “Nigeria is committed to ensuring that the vision and mission of the free to shine campaign are achieved in the country.

    “ As UNAID Special Ambassador to the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, I need the promotion of treatment for children living with HIV in Nigeria.

    “I have more reasons to ensure that this happens. My vision in this campaign is to end childhood AIDS in Nigeria and keep mothers healthy.

    “This vision will be achieved through several programmes that will increase the number of HIV pregnant women identified and placed on treatment for their health and prevention of the transmission to their babies.

    She, therefore, enjoined stakeholders to pay particular attention to issues that were critical to the reduction of HIV among mothers and their children.

    Earlier, Mrs Helen Aphan, leader, Association of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (ASWHAN) appealed to the wife of the president to come to the aid of those infected.

    “ HIV treatment is still not available and accessible to many women living with the scourge.

    “I want to use this medium to cry to the wife of the president to assist in making the treatment free and available,” Aphan said. (NAN)

  • Don’t criminalise drug addicts- Aisha Buhari

    Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, ‎on Thursday said the society should not criminalise those addicted to hard drugs.

    She made the remark at the Official flag-off of Youth Against Drug Abuse (YADA) Campaign in Kano state, organized by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Collaboration with Young Pharmacists Group(YPG) at the Government House Kano.

    According to her, rather than isolating and discriminating, the society should look beyond the problem and begin to look at the main cause of the problem and address them for a lasting solution.

    Represented by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Buhari decried the prevalence of drug abuse among youths.

    She said that drug abuse has prevented persons suffering from injuries and other illnesses to have access to drug such as tramadol and other strong pain killers as they have been banned by the government.

    “As a result of drug influence, the lives of many youths have been destroyed as they engage in all sort of heinous crimes which has led to their incarceration.

    Read Also: Aisha Buhari to Nigerian women: Vote Buhari again

    “It must be understood that whatever crime someone under the influence of drugs commits is influenced by the drug.

    “I want to commend the efforts of all government agencies in the fight against drug abuse in the country and that such efforts has led to the arrest and confiscation of 86 containers containing prohibited drugs,” she said.

    Earlier, Gov.  Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state, advised youths to shun all forms of drug abuse and engage in productive activities that would contribute to the growth of the state and nation at large.

    He said that his government was committed to transforming the lives of persons engaged in drug abuse to better persons as the Kano Reformatory Home was currently under renovation where patients would be rehabilitated and acquire vocational skills.

    In a remark, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said about 70 per cent of youths essentially, young boys, abuse illicit drugs in Kano.

    Adeyeye who said that recent survey conducted revealed that prescription drugs abuse was fast-emerging a public health challenge especially in the Northern part of Nigeria.

    She regretted that young girls and women of childbearing age in Kano were not left out of the endemic nature of the hard drugs in the state which she claimed many users considered to overcome their frustration.

  • Aisha Buhari to women: vote Buhari again

    THE President’s wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, yesterday called on Nigerian women to ensure the return of All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in 2019.

    She spoke at a National Women Leadership Summit organised by a political group, Project 4+4 for Buhari & Osinbajo 2019, at the National Women Development Centre, Abuja.

    Mrs. Buhari, in a statement by her Director of Information, Suleiman Haruna, observed that during the last election, women participated fully in the voting process and ensured that APC was elected.

    According to her, that was why President Muhammadu Buhari administration came up with social investment programmes targeted at them and their children to engage them and reduce the level of poverty among them.

    She called on them to spread the good news of the accomplishments of the Buhari administration.

    Mrs. Buhari said women have been at the receiving end of the struggles of men, especially soldiers who have been fighting insurgency and called on government to ensure speedy release of their entitlements so that their families do not suffer.

    She called for a one-minute silence in honour of soldiers that lost their lives in the process.

    She hailed the political group for organising the summit and setting the tone for other Buhari support groups as 2019 election campaign period opens.

    Vice President’s wife Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo hailed women for providing a permanent support base for the APC and said they remain ambassadors of the party wherever they find themselves.

    She called on them to continue to support the party, saying continuation of the party in 2019 means a better Nigeria for them and their children.

    National Coordinator of Project 4+4 Comrade Garba Musa Bello said the purpose of the summit was to bring together women from 774 local government areas and chart for them a strategy for the campaign period.

    He said it was not in doubt that women control the voting power and as such, they must be reckoned with.

    Bello noted that the successes of government are too glaring to ignore, and women, who are witnesses and beneficiaries to these achievements, must pronounce them to the world.

    He hailed Mrs. Buhari and the role she plays in Nigeria’s political space, saying women have confidence in her protection and support.

    National Woman Leader Salamatu Baiwa said APC women have secured the concurrence of the party on the issue of a more gender-balanced administration come 2019.

     

  • DSS parades woman for using first lady’s name in multi-million naira fraud

    An audacious woman use the name and office of First Lady Aisha Buhari at the Aso Rock presidential villa to stage fraudulent acts, one of which may have yielded about N150 million is now in custody, the Department of State Security (DSS) disclosed on Monday.

    Briefing reporters at the DSS headquarters in Abuja, its spokesman, Mr. Peter Nnochirionye Afunanya stated that investigation is continuing towards unraveling how the light complexioned middle-aged lady variously know as Amina Mohammed, Justina Oluoha and Amina Villa managed to beat the meticulous security protocols at the presidential villa and engage in her ‘business’ over an undetermined period.

    However, the accused lady pointedly contradicted the DSS version of the story, yelling at the top of her voice that she was never a fraudster as she only arranged transactions in Federal Government real estate, with the assistance of top government officials who had been benefitting from such.

    “They should ask the First Lady’s sisters, Mariatu is involved, Babachir Lawal knows about this; all the directors have been collecting bribes

    “I can never be a fraudster, I only deal in selling real estate that the Federal Government was disposing. SSS has been keeping me in this office for four months,” she screamed before being returned to another part of the DSS headquarters.

    However, DSS spokesman, Mr. Afunanya who dismissed her claims of being detained for four months stated that she had been reporting at the DSS office since November 22 last year when her ‘ unauthoorized acess to the presidential villa and used the name and office of the First Lady to engage in a fraudulent act’ was discovered.

    “The woman who will soon be paraded before you used false aliases, false identities to defraud unsuspecting members before she was discovered; Amina Mohammed, also known as Justina Oluoha, Amina Villa, had, on 22nd of November 2017, paraded herself as the First Lady of Kogi State.

    “She used the false identity to evade protocol and scrutiny, thus gaining unauthorized access into the villa and particularly the residence of the First Lady and wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari; she took advantage of the fact that personalities such as  First Ladies, ministers and certain categories of officials are not taken through rigorous protocol and security checks at the villa (security) post.

    “What will  even surprise you is that Amina whose phone number is registered with the name Amina Villa had, on the said date, invited one Dr Alexander Chika Okafor also known as Chikason, into the villa wherein she made him to believe that the invitation was at the instance of the First Lady; investigation has revealed that the First Lady was away on lesser hajj and not in the villa during the period.

    “Dr Okafor had complained that he was fleeced of over N150 million with respect of a Federal Court of Appeal property in Lagos which Amina had promised to help him buy through the First Lady; the property was said to have been one of those under the Presidential Implementation Committee On Lease Of Federal Government Properties.

    “Investigation has shown that this unholy enterprise is not to the knowledge of the First Lady; what Amina simply did was to use the First Lady’s name and office as base to lure  and defraud her victims.

    “Members of the public are therefore advised to be wary of individuals or groups who drop names and offices of high government officials to defraud them,” he stated.

  • Aisha Buhari wants Muslim-Christian synergy in tackling sex abuse in universities

    THE Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari has called for collaboration between Muslims and Christians in tackling the menace of sex abuse in Nigerian universities, work places and families.

    Mrs Buhari made this call at a Public Lecture with the theme “Life of an Ideal Muslim in Public Office,’’ organised by the Aisha Buhari Foundation yesterday at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.

    She said that the target audience of the lecture was the youths in order to help them have a full grasp of the Islamic way of life and avoid being led astray by some leaders they looked up to.

    The Wife of the President tasked the Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to work towards coming up with a code of conduct for Nigerian Muslims.

    “I will like to plead with the two notable bodies- that is the Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to work together to fine-tune the way of life of an ideal Muslim; to make it compulsory for all Nigerian Muslims to follow a specified way of life.

    “We have to implement. It not just reading the Koran and fail to implement either because of politics or societal intimidation.

    “It is high time we set a standard for every Muslim in Nigeria; the Supreme Council has started working on something; very soon, we are going to have a workshop that will bring all Nigerian Muslims together and to come up with specific way of life for every Nigerian Muslim.

    “I will also like to plead with the two bodies to work hand in hand with the other religion in Nigeria –Christianity to see how we can tackle sex abuse that is going on in universities; in the work place and within families where the family members tend to keep quiet because of stigma or other things.

    “We suppose to use both religions to fight against it,‘’ she said.

    The Wife of the President said that the two bodies should continue organising lectures that would remind Muslims of the Islamic way of life.

    She said that the targeted audience should be the public office holders’, heads of agencies and parastatals.

    Mrs Buhari said that she would want them to start with Judiciary, Police, the military, and the anti-graft agencies and extend it to some other ministries.

    Earlier in his lecture, Abubakar Khalid, the Secretary- Gen, Jama’atu Nasril Islam, said that for ideal Muslim, life was a call to service and humanity and to be righteous and conscious.

    He said that every worker was a shepherd and would render account of his stewardship to the Almighty Allah.

    According to him, there is need for the psyche of Nigerians to be ignited to understand that service to man, by extension, was service to God.

    Khalid said that people in positions of authority should be mindful of the fact that the stigma of corruption and mismanagement would stand before them when they left office.

    He reminded Muslims that everybody would give account before Allah on how they discharged their responsibilities at work.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and some prominent Islamic preachers and scholars graced the occasion.

     

  • Three arraigned for impersonating Aisha Buhari

    The Police on Monday arraigned three men at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly impersonating First Lady Aisha Buhari.

    Uche Julius (alias Musa Mohammed), Kenneth Ezeonu (alias Abdul Karim) and Agu George (alias Dr. Lina Norman) were arraigned on a 16-count charge of violating the Cybercrime Act.

    Julius, 48, was accused of using the First Lady’s name to defraud his victims from his Surulere, Lagos base.

    The Police said he sent an e-mail to one of his victims, a foreigner, on August 8 with intent to defraud him.

    The message, sent to Geraldo Francisco Menezes, claimed to notify the recipient of an immediate payment of $20,500,000.

    Read Also: Aisha Buhari blames Oshiomhole for ‘impunity, unfairness’

    The prosecution said the defendant claimed to be Aisha Buhari.

    The Police said Ezeonu, 45, on September 22, allegedly sent a mail to Muhammed Satti, claiming that he had been nominated as the beneficiary of $14,800,000.

    George, 48, was said to have sent an e-mail Grzegorz  Suewierski and attempted to defraud him of $15,500,000 after making a spurious claim.

    Prosecuting counsel Boniface Asogwa said the offence is contrary to Sections 14 (3) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act 2015.

    The defendants, who had no legal representation, pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Kuewumi ordered that they be remanded in prison custody in the meantime.

    He adjourned until January 18 for further hearing.