Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari has accused “bad people” of taking over the country from people who are “supposed to be in charge”.
The wife of the president Muhammadu Buhari made the claims on Thursday during a phone-in interview on Television Continental (TVC)’s ‘Journalists Hangout’ programme.
She said it is unacceptable that those who should be in control of the government have remained mute, while some persons are using social media to bring down the government.
She said fake news has caused her some distress particularly when the president was rumoured to have died, and when he was said to be taking a second wife.
“I didn’t take it seriously because even my husband didn’t know what was happening,” she said of the rumoured marriage. “Both of us didn’t know what was happening; they just decided to bombard social media with it. They are now taking to social media to bring down the government itself.
“I think that we should not allow people that are nothing to override the innocent; I don’t know why people that are supposed to be in charge should remain mute while bad people take over the country from us. It is impossible and totally unacceptable.”
Aisha also accused presidential aides and other government officials of ignoring issues they should respond to and focusing on things that the president has no business in.
“Whenever they (presidential aides) are supposed to take action against the offenders, or to take action or to take charge or be in control, or caution people, they keep mute,” she said.
“But when it comes to unnecessary things, people will start talking of the presidency. A typical example is what happened after the election in Bayelsa state. When the PDP came out and said they would … suspend His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan, the former president, for doing wrong or something like that.
“I have seen no reason why (the) presidency should come out and say that they were shocked to hear that. Is it their business? Are they PDP members? Is President Jonathan a member of our party? What does that have to do with the presidency?”