In a statement by Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi, the President’s wife’s Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on Friday, said there was no truth in a media report accusing her of colluding with some government officials to fleece the Nigerian High Commission in London every time she travels to the United Kingdom.
We had earlier reported that SaharaReporters, had on Thursday, alleged that the High Commission spends a minimum of £7,000 for hospitality on each of Mrs. Buhari’s trips to the UK, with the President’s wife visiting at least seven times in 2016.
But in a swift reaction, the president’s wife, said she had never traveled to London with a large entourage as published in the report, adding that individuals on her delegation had never exceeded her three children, her Aide-De-Camp and her personal physician.
The President’s wife said the Nigerian High Commission had never cater for her needs during the trips based on her husband’s position that public offices must be separated from the private lives of the occupants.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Commission in London has never offered any favour either monetarily or materially to her (the President’s wife) or her so-called entourage on any of her trips to London.
“The State House in Abuja caters for her meal when necessary, and other healthy food or variety needed by her children are her personal responsibility.
“It is on record that the Nigerian Commission in London does not receive Aisha Buhari at the airport with any official distinction or privileges as was accorded other First Ladies before her.
“Her drivers are privately arranged without any recourse to the embassy for staff.
“She has never complained or raised dust about any of these acts by the High Commission because of the understanding, as clearly spelt out and practised by her husband, that public office must be separated from the private lives of the occupants.
“She has always been an advocate of good governance where officials of government are responsive and appealing to their constituents, it therefore baffles the imagination that one could believe she would corroborate with any government official however highly placed either at home or abroad to shortchange the Nigerian people.”
The President’s wife said the report which suggested corruption and abuse of privileges clearly negates the fundamental principle upon which the present administration thrives, and challenged the authors of the report or any member of the staff of the High Commission to provide concrete evidence to contradict her position as it concerns her trips to London.
