What was spent on my London trip is far cry from what ex First Ladies got, Aisha Buhari laments

Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has said that the money spent by the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK) on the lounge when she visited London recently was a far cry from the £32,000 landing fees for private jets of former Nigerian First Ladies.

An online news portal had in a recent report alleged that Aisha is swindling the Nigerian High Commission by abusing her privilege anytime she travels to the UK. The news portal showed some documents to buttress the claim.

One of the documents showed that Mrs. Buhari was in London in October 2016 and claimed the High Commission allotted the sum of £10,000 for her expenditures, including an extravagant VIP reception on her arrival at the airport.

The memo showed that Aisha was booked to receive VIP treatment at Windsor Suites at Heathrow that cost £1,500 per passenger. She was then scheduled to attend an event in Brussels and other places before returning to London.

But replying via a statement she released through her Special Assistant on Media, Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi and made available to newsmen, she lamented that the nonstop publication of what according to her, are unfounded stories by the news portal against her, has become worrisome.

“The High Commission has its internal administrative procedure, and it is not within the purview of the wife of the President to ask for diplomatic files.

“Furthermore, that the said memo showed little or no knowledge of Her Excellency’s itinerary proves the simple fact we earlier submitted that she had no direct business with the embassy to warrant the accusation of waste or corruption insinuated in the report.

“Part of the wife of the President’s trips abroad are for her NGO, which is not funded by the Government, and It is not uncommon to have stopover in Britain like any other country as the case may be.

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“Accordingly, her VIP treatment is simple protocol for a personality of her status, which is done all over the world, and at no point was she offered anywhere else. The High Commission provided the lounge and Hajiya Buhari was not involved in the transaction.

“This is even a far cry from the £32,000 expended in the past as landing fees for private jets of former first ladies,” the statement read in part.

While she called for responsible journalism, she asked the news portal to carry out a thorough check if the “so called monies spent for whatever reason by the High Commission has any direct link with her.”

Aisha’s lifestyle has lately become subject of rave reviews as she has often been caught in designer clothings and accessories. She is also known for her outspokenness, one of which pitched her against the husband, Buhari, when she declared that she may withdraw her support from the president’s 2019 ambition.

 

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