Headline

Where’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari?

Published

5 years ago

January 8, 2021

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Nigerian First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, is not a stranger to spontaneous journeys as she has been known to embark on trips to foreign countries at the slightest excuse, ever since the advent of the present administration which her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, supervises. However, at the moment, no one seems to know for sure where the supposedly outspoken First Lady is.

When it is believed that first ladies all over the world stay close to their husbands and assist in the running of government, Aisha Buhari’s case has completely been the opposite as of recent, she has hardly appeared in the public space or made policy statements that relate to governance or the wellbeing of Nigerians or even in the interest of the government as either a party woman or an integral part of government.

The era of the Chief (Mrs) Stella Obasanjo, Mrs Turai Yar’dua and Mrs Patience Jonathan as first ladies were no doubt eventful as Nigerians can testify to the influence they had on their husbands in the running of government. There is something to remember each of them for. This is even leaving out the aura Mrs Maryam Babangida brought to the office of First Lady, and sustained by Mrs Miriam Abacha.

Unlike the Aisha Buhari, who campaigned vigorously for her husband in the 2015 election in Nigeria, organising town hall meetings with women’s groups and youth organisations, her low profile status shortly after the administration took shape raised eyebrows. More revelations had it that she was restricted to her work on the empowerment of women and helping victims of the Boko Haram conflict in the north-east of the country.

It must be noted however, that the First Lady has not hidden his disdain for the Buhari administration as a result of its stand on the economy and social welfare. She was reputed to have insinuated long before the 2019 elections that she would not vote for her husband nor mobilise women to do same if the situation then persists. But she was prominent after all during the campaign hunting for votes for Buhari.

One cannot say with all certainty that all is well or has been well with the First Family. It is rare to see both Buhari and Aisha speaking in agreement on a particular issue. Take for instance during an interview with the BBC’s Hausa language service in 2016, Mrs Buhari suggested her husband’s government had been hijacked by only a “few people”, who were behind presidential appointments.

“The president does not know 45 out of 50 of the people he appointed and I don’t know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years,” she said, sending shock waves among the political world that a very close person to Buhari would reveal her level of discontent of the administration at such an early stage.

Buhari’s response on its own was an admission that all wasn’t well with the family. He threw back a salvo saying “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room.”

He added that having run for president three times and having succeeded at the fourth attempt, he could “claim superior knowledge over her”.

The comment did not unleash silent responses from the public even as the President’s handlers tried very hard to dismiss it as a humour.

Mrs Buhari though has always been embarking on foreign trips, especially for health related issues, the recent trips have raised a lot of questions. Facts available to The Boss reveal that the President’s wife’s trip to Dubai in August 2020 on the pretense of medical examination was for shopping for paraphernalia for the wedding ceremony of her daughter Hanan, who married Mohammed Turad on September 4, 2020. The trip was facilitated through a jet belonging to billionaire businessman, Mohammed Indimi. It was also revealed that her doctor stays in London, and so the trip to Dubai couldn’t have been for medical purposes.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that Mrs Buhari’s travel was packaged to look like a health emergency in order not to raise eyebrows for violating government’s restriction on international flights due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

“There is presently a ban on international flights by the government except it is essential, so the best way for her to travel was under the guise of medical treatment,” the medium reported.

Presently, Mrs Aisha Buhari is not in the country. She is alleged to have permanently relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The First Lady has not been in Nigeria in over four months and was reportedly quoted as saying that Aso Rock Villa is no longer secure for her family.

Her insecurity concerns were fueled by a shooting incident which occurred in June 2020 and caused some panic among occupants of the Aso Villa.

Report has it that “there was a crisis in Aso Villa after security details of the President’s wife removed Buhari’s Personal Assistant, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, from the place after he refused to embark on a 14-day isolation period upon returning from a trip to Lagos.

“Shortly afterwards, the First Lady’s ADC, Usman Shugaba, in an attempt to apprehend Yusuf, reportedly fired gunshots but the President’s aide escaped to the residence of Mamman Daura where he spent the night.

“Yusuf soon ordered the arrest of Aisha’s ADC and other security details in connivance with Buhari’s chief security officer.

Buhari had ordered a probe into the alleged security breach inside the Presidential Villa, but as at date, nothing has been heard of the probe.

Speaking in defence of the First Lady, her aide, Kabiru Dodo, denied the relocation reports based on insecurity reasons, noting that the president’s wife only travelled out of the country on medical grounds.

He said: “The First Lady travelled for her medical trip. She did not flee the country because of insecurity, she left her children, her husband and family in Nigeria, what people are saying is baseless and worth nothing to be considered. I want to tell the whole world that I do speak to her on daily basis and she is ready to return to the country as soon as she is done with the medical treatment abroad.”

But when the supposed medical treatment will end remains largely unknown.

Aisha Buhari was born in Adamawa State in 1971. She is the granddaughter of Nigeria’s first Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Ambrose Alli University (AAU), and a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

Aisha obtained a Diploma in Beauty Therapy from the Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom, and holds a post-graduate Diploma in Cosmetology and Beauty from Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute of France.

Aisha is a member of the United Kingdom Vocational Training and Charitable Trust and the International Health and Beauty Council.

At the young age of 18 in 1989, she married a former military Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, and the marriage has produced five children; a boy and four girls. They are: Zahra, Yusuf, Halima, Sheriff, Amina and Aisha.

Apart from engaging in human right activism, Mrs Buhari is also a business personality. In 1995, she established the Hanzy Spa, in Kaduna State. The spa is reputed as northern Nigeria’s first beauty parlour. She also has a book to her credit, The Essentials of Beauty Therapy: A Complete Guide for Beauty Specialists, which she published in 2014. She donated proceeds from the book to parents of abducted Chibok girls, the Buni Yadi boys murdered in 2014, and children suffering from malnutrition.

In 2017, Mrs Buhari echoed her daughter, Zahra’s voice in condenming the Aso Rock clinic for inefficiency. Zahra had earlier said that not even paracetamol tablet was found in the clinic, its N3 billion budget notwithstanding, before Mrs Buhari told a story of how an x-ray machine could not be found in the clinic to treat her of an ailment. She concluded that she was later treated in 100% foreigners-operated hospital.

Aside her Aso Rock related crises, she reportedly caused upset in 2015 when she appeared in public wearing an expensive-looking watch. Many had believed that she was bent on undermining Buhari’s ‘Mr Integrity’ image. Again, she got into the wrong books of the public when she attempted to shake hands with the Alaafin of Oyo.

Aisha’s children have not fared well either in the public eye. Her last child, Hanan, a graduate of Photography from Ravensbourne University, London, United Kingdom, in July 2019, allegedly ordered the Department of State Services to arrest a young businessman based in Delta State, Athony Okolie, after he was issued a mobile number by telecommunications company MTN previously used and abandoned by her. Okolie spent 10 weeks in unlawful detention before he was finally released.

Again, in January 2020, Hanan attended an event to photograph a Durbar by Rilwanu Adamu, Emir of Bauchi, in one of the jets in the presidential fleet. A move the Presidency defended.

In December, 2017, Yusuf, was involved in a ghastly power bike accident in the Gwanripa area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. In a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf “broke a limb and had an injury to the head as a result.” He was later flown for treatment. His accident made Nigerians wonder at the ostentatious lifestyle of Buhari’s children.

On Friday, pictures trended on the social media of Turad, Hanan’s husband’s birthday celebration in Dubai, but Mrs Buhari was conspicuously absent in the pictures, prompting a whole lot to ask where is the First Lady, Aisha Buhari?

Headline

The Search for Justice: ADC vs Tsoho

Published

2 days ago

June 8, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

From the first day the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took a new shape in July, 2025, in readiness to wrest power from the government of the day, crises, allegedly engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC), have remained its lot.

From the struggle for leadership positions to the fight to save itself from deregistration, the hitherto coalition and main opposition party, has remained in a battle for its life and existence. And has not relented in the search for lasting justice. This time, it has taken the law itself to court to ensure that justice is not only done, but seen to have been done.

It would be recalled that shortly after the the party ratified the election of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Chairman and Secretary of the party respectively, skirmishes were noticed among the rank and file of the party as a supposedly former deputy national chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, claimed chairmanship of party, saying that since the founding chairman had resigned, it is constitutionally incumbent upon him to automatically assume the chairmanship role.

Gombe’s claims came on the heels of his ‘resignation’ from office, which paved the way for a new national executive of the party to be constituted. But his claims did not deter the party from carrying on with the formation and running of the party, including holding a keenly contested presidential primary election, which produced His Excellency, the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. So Gombe went to court. Yet, Mark and Aregbesola carried on the running of the party.

As a result, Gombe had approached a court for an order restraining Mark leadership from parading themselves as leaders of the ADC pending the hearing and determination of his suit challenging their leadership.

He had also asked the court to issue another order against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), restraining it from recognizing the Mark leadership.

But in his ruling in the interlocutory application, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered Gombe to put the defendants on notice so that they appear before the court to show cause, why the application should not be granted.

Rather than appearing before the trial court to show cause, the defendant appealed to the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court to dabble into the matter they described as internal matters of the ADC.

The appellate court in dismissing the appeal for lacking in merit, ordered accelerated hearing in the suit and further ordered all parties to maintain status quo ante bellum.

Dissatisfied, Mark had approached the appellate court but, his appeal was dismissed and the matter returned to the trial court.

With the to and from nature of the cases involving the ADC leadership crisis, the party has accused judges of bias in favoring party detractors and disobedience to court rules among other malice, the party has taken a new route to obtain the much eluded justice, and that involves charging the custodians of the law to court.

Consequently, the ADC has filed a lawsuit before a High Court in Abuja involving the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, over concerns arising from the ongoing leadership dispute within the party.

Also joined in the suit is the National Judicial Council (NJC), which the party said had not addressed issues it raised regarding the handling of a case challenging the leadership of former Senate President, Senator David Mark, within the ADC.

The lawsuit, dated June 4, 2026, was filed by the National Welfare Secretary of the ADC, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who is seeking to be joined in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe against the Mark-led leadership of the party.

According to the suit, Ukandu expressed concerns about the handling of the matter and alleged that the actions of both Justice Tsoho and Justice Peter Lifu, the judge assigned to hear the case, could affect confidence in the proceedings.

The lawsuit further stated that the assignment of the case to Justice Lifu stirred concerns among some members of the party, who believe the process may not guarantee a fair hearing.

The legal action marks a fresh twist in the leadership dispute within the ADC, which has attracted significant political attention ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Aside Justice John Tsoho, other defendants are the National Judicial Council (NJC), and Justice Peter Lifu, a judge newly assigned to hear the suit challenging the Senator David Mark-led leadership of ADC.

The plaintiff, who was seeking to be joined in the Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, brought by Nafiu Bala Gombe against the Mark-led leadership, accused the chief judge and Lifu of manifest bias, and willingness to do the biddings of persons against the interest of the party.

Ukandu, in the suit he personally filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, faulted the chief judge for reassigning the suit to Lifu, in alleged disregard of the orders of the Supreme Court as well as Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, who initially heard the suit brought by Gombe against the party.

The plaintiff, in the suit marked FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 1165/2026, recalled that an appeal from an interlocutory decision of Nwite rose to the Supreme Court, wherein the apex court on April 30, 2026, “made an order of remittance of Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025: Nafiu Bala Gombe VS. ADC & 4 ORS back to Justice Emeka Nwite for continuation of hearing of pending applications challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court.”

He stated that upon resumption of hearing before Nwite, the plaintiff wrote to the chief judge praying for a reassignment of the matter to another judge of the Honourable Court.

Ukandu stated, “All the defendants’ counsel, including counsel to the applicants seeking to be joined in this matter, opposed the said application by the plaintiff’s counsel and Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite thereafter adjourned the matter sine die pending the service of the said letter by the plaintiff’s on all the parties in the matter, outcome of the letter by the 2nd defendant and the furnishing of the CTC of the judgement of the Supreme Court to the court.

“Without complying with the orders of the Supreme Court and Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite, the 2nd Defendant in abuse of his judicial powers reassigned this matter,” to Lifu.

He added that the third defendant, on his part, pretending not to see the order of Nwite, went ahead and fixed the matter for hearing for June 3, 2026.

Ukandu further recalled that ADC had on May 7 informed the public through a press release that the chief judge had planned to reassign the case to another judge favourable to the plaintiff.

He said the party had “warned against such unethical practice but the 2nd Defendant despite the public outcry reassigned the suit to the 3rd Defendant who have been nick-named as ‘Wike Judges’.”

He stated that the third defendant had started presiding over the matter, despite taking judicial notice of the orders of the Supreme Court and Nwite, and that the matter came up for hearing before the third defendant.

Though neither the Federal High Court nor the National Judicial Council had publicly responded to the issues raised so far, it is imperative to to state that the ADC appears to have lost interest in both the judiciary, which it believe is kowtowing to the dictates of Gombe, and by extension the body language of the Federal Government.

The ADC appears to have managed to draw the sympathy of the public as a group known as the Grassroots Mobilization Network (GMN), has lent their voice to the supposed injustice leveled against the Mark-led ADC, raising concerns about the handling of the matter, and calling for transparency in the judicial process.

The group alleged that the judiciary was being used to target opposition parties.

The group expressed concern over what it described as growing public distrust in the judiciary and called on relevant authorities to ensure fairness and transparency in the handling of politically sensitive cases.

While Nigerians await the outcome of the litigation, and other resolution of other sundry issues arising from the ADC and the judiciary, the party is going ahead making last minute transparent efforts to nominate a suitable running mate to bear the presidential flag with the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Among the party’s shortlists are the first runner-up in the presidential primary, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwumi Adesina, Emeka Ihedioha, Emeka Nwajiuba and Chief Dele Momodu.

Headline

Gunmen Abduct Ex-Power Minister Adelabu’s Sister, Her Two Sons in Ibadan

Published

7 days ago

June 3, 2026

Eric

Suspected gunmen have abducted the sister of a former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The family of former minister and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed the abduction, disclosing that Mrs. Olaide John-Paul and her 12-year-old twin sons were kidnapped by the gunmen on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

According to a statement issued by Adelabu’s media aide, Femi Awogboro, the victims were kidnapped at about 7:30am while Mrs. John-Paul was taking her children to school.

Mrs. John-Paul, the youngest of five children of Mrs. Olufunmilayo Aduke Adegoke Adelabu, reportedly retired voluntarily from her career at First Bank Pension Custodian in 2025 before relocating to Ibadan with her children.

She was said to be making arrangements to join her husband, who had earlier relocated to the US.

The family expressed deep concern over the development but stated that security agencies had already commenced efforts to rescue the victims and apprehend those responsible.

“We are pleased to confirm that security operatives have swung into action and preliminary investigations have commenced in earnest,” the statement partly read.

While appealing for calm, the family urged members of the public to refrain from spreading unverified information that could undermine ongoing rescue operations.

“We are deeply distressed by this unfortunate incident, but remain hopeful that the victims will be rescued safely. We appeal to the public to remain calm, avoid speculation and support ongoing efforts with prayers,” the statement added.

The family also called on anyone with useful information that could aid the rescue operation to promptly share such intelligence with security agencies through the appropriate channels.

It assured that it would continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities and provide updates as investigations and rescue efforts progress.

Headline

Adeboye Proposes 90 Days Ultimatum for Security Chiefs to Eradicate Terrorism or Resign

Published

1 week ago

June 3, 2026

Eric

The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has called on the Federal government to issue a 90-day ultimatum to security chiefs to end terrorism in Nigeria or step aside.

Adeboye made the appeal in a video shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday, expressing deep concern over the country’s deteriorating security situation.

He emphasized the need for urgent and decisive action, stressing that security chiefs must be held accountable for tangible results in the fight against terrorism.

According to him, while citizens can only advise the Commander-in-Chief, it is within the government’s power to set clear expectations and timelines for security leaders.

“If I were to make a suggestion, I would say the government should act swiftly and direct the service chiefs to eradicate terrorists within 90 days or resign,” he said.

The cleric also urged authorities to go beyond targeting terrorists alone, insisting that their sponsors must equally be identified and dealt with, regardless of their social or political influence.

“When issuing directives, it should be made clear that both terrorists and their sponsors must be eliminated, no matter how powerful they are,” he added.

Adeboye recalled that a former Nigerian president had once issued a similar three-month directive to security chiefs to end the Boko Haram insurgency but failed to enforce the order after the deadline expired.

Reflecting on his interaction with the late president, Adeboye noted that although initial efforts were made, the lack of follow-through undermined the directive’s effectiveness.

He maintained that his current recommendation is informed by that experience, urging the government to ensure strict enforcement if such a timeline is adopted.

His comments come amid renewed concerns over persistent terrorist attacks, banditry, and kidnappings across the country, with increasing public pressure on authorities to take stronger action against insecurity.