Wife of the President, 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.
She 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, even if not for her reputation, but that Nigerians deserved to know the truth at all times.
An online news portal, Sahara Reporters, had on Thursday reported that the High Commission spends a minimum of £7,000 for hospitality on each of Mrs. Buhari’s trips to the UK, and the President’s wife had visited at least seven times in 2016.
But in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi, the President’s wife said she had never travelled 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.
She said the Nigerian High Commission had never cater to 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 partly 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 to her meal, when necessary, and other healthy food or variety needed by her children are her personal responsibility. Her drivers are privately arranged without any recourse to the embassy for staff because of the understanding.”
The statement said the Presidents’ wife had always been an advocate of good governance and could not collaborate with any government official to shortchange the Nigerian people.
Punch
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