Aisha Buhari Denies Receiving Two SUVs from IG

Police: We allocated two vehicles to first lady’s security personnel IG released documents implicating first lady, says Misau

Damilola Oyedele

The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has denied the allegation by senator representing Bauchi central, Isah Misau, that Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, gave her two cars.

On Wednesday, Misau had told the Senate Adhoc Committee assigned to probe IG that Buhari’s wife had requested a Sienna and Hiace bus through her aide but Idris bought two SUVs for her.

According to him, the vehicles were purchased for her personal use and was “not part of appropriation.”

“I still have some contract papers that the IG himself submitted to the court (Misau Vs FG) where the first lady through her aide-de-camp requested a Toyota Hiace and a Sienna. The same day that the ADC wrote, the IG minuted that she should be given two jeeps. And it is not part of the appropriation. If you look at the appropriation, there is nowhere they said the first lady should be given two jeeps,” the lawmaker had said.

But reacting via a tweet, the president’s wife denied Maina’s allegation.

“I am still using my personal cars,” the tweet read.

Despite her denial, the Force Headquarters yesterday said two vehicles were allocated to the security personnel of Mrs. Buhari.

The Force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said the vehicles were not for her “personal use” as alleged by Misau.

In a statement, Moshood according to The Cable, described Misau’s claims as a deliberate attempt to misinform the public and drag the wife of the president, the president and the IG into a controversy.

The police spokesperson said the president’s wife never made a request for the vehicles.

He said the vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus and Toyota Hiace bus, were meant for the “police personnel in the convoy of wife of the president.”

The statement read: “It is pertinent to state that at no time did the wife of the president, Mrs. Buhari requested directly or indirectly for vehicles for her use from the inspectorgeneral of police and no vehicle whether jeep or SUV has ever been given for her personal use.

“To set the record straight and disabuse the minds of the public most especially those who must have read the story, that the IG is empowered by the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended and the police act and Regulations, precisely Section 215 (1) and (2) ‘the Nigeria police force shall be under the command of the IG and the deployment and control of the entire operations of the force including allocation of police vehicles for operational use throughout the country shall be under the purview of the IG.’

“It is within the powers of the IG as stated above that when on January 17, 2017, SP Sani M BabaInna, the ADC, wife of the president requested for two vehicles for police personnel in the convoy of wife of the president for convoy movement and security purposes.

“Two police Vehicles a Toyota Sienna bus with Reg. No. NPF 2406D a Toyota Hiace bus with Reg. No. NPF 3363D were approved by the IG to the ADC Baba-Inna for the purposes requested and not to the person of the wife of the president or for her personal use as alleged by Misau.”

Reacting to the allegations raised by Misau about the IG’s retirement age, Moshood said the only discrepancies with his date of birth is 12 days which has been corrected.

However, Misau has accused Idris of deliberately ‘displaying’ documents which implicate Mrs. Buhari, as being the beneficiary of two SUVs, gifts from Idris.

Misau, in a statement issued yesterday, said he did not make any allegations against Mrs. Buhari, but was only referencing court documents filed in the charge against his person by the Attorney General of the federation Mr. Abubakar Malami.

Misau said the clarification became necessary following reports that he levelled allegations against Mrs. Buhari, while testifying on Tuesday, before the Senate adhoc committee investigating allegations of corruption against the IG.

“The said documents which form part of the proof of evidence to the charge are correspondence between the IG and the following: the President and C- in- C of the Federation; The Chief of Staff to the President; the Director, National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies; the ADC to the Wife of the President; and the Chief Personal Security Officer to the President,” Misau said.

He accused Idris of unethically dropping names to frame top ranking personalities into the case.

“It was indeed a shock to me, as I am sure it is to other Nigerians, to see such private and confidential documents with all the minutes of the President and other top government officials carelessly displayed in the public by the IG in manifest breach of official secrecy.

“The motive for displaying these documents is no doubt suspicious given that they have little or no bearing on the matter of inappropriate practices within the Police. My submission before the Senate Ad hoc Committee was simply to call the attention of members as well as the general public to how the IG is unethically dropping names through filing of secret documents so as to rope these top ranking innocent personalities into the case,” the statement read.

“The IG is the one who submitted the official documents mentioning the names of respected personalities, not me. I believe I need to make this clarification,” Misau added.