President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, has given a rare insight into the power struggles at Aso villa, with details of how her husband’s relatives
President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, has given a rare insight into the power struggles at Aso villa, with details of how her husband’s relatives physically confronted her. In an interview with BBC Hausa, Aisha confirmed the authenticity of a video that circulated online last week, saying she was the woman seen speaking angrily in the footage. The incident, however, did not happen now, she said.
Mrs Buhari has spoken of a “cabal” that has controlled her husband, a description understood to mean a shadowy but powerful kitchen cabinet led by Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura.
Speaking in Hausa in the new interview, Mrs Buhari said she was the person in the video and that she reacted after being denied access to parts of Aso villa by Mr Daura and his family. The video was recorded by Mr Daura’s daughter, Fatima.
“I was the one in that video and this person you see standing at my back are my security personnel. It was Fatima, the daughter of Mamman Daura that shot the video in front of my security and everybody there. She was actually recording the whole thing right in front of me and was laughing and mocking me,” the first lady said.
“They did that because my husband sacked them from the house. He told them to get all their belongings and leave the house for my son (Yusuf) to occupy. I left them and wanted to get to one of the rooms but they prevented me from getting through, I left them and took another way yet I met the store locked,” she said.
