Buhari tells Mrs to make the tea
MUHAMMADU Buhari, the Nigerian president, on Friday said his wife “belonged in the kitchen” after she had accused him of being out of touch with his government and threatened to drop her political support.
Aisha Buhari, the first lady of Nigeria, claimed he “does not know” most of the senior officials working under him. She threatened to withdraw support for the former military dictator at the next general election unless he reshuffles his cabinet.
“The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don’t know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years,” she said. “A lot of people have been coming on their own and also collectively to tell him things are not going the way they should, when it comes to putting certain people in positions.”
A few hours later, the president tried to laugh off the criticism.
“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 told reporters after a meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Merkel, standing beside Buhari, gave him a steely glare but then laughed.
He added he would remind his wife he had run for president three times before and succeeded at the fourth attempt.
“So, I claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition, because in the end I have succeeded,” he said.
Aisha Buhari called on her husband to dismiss his cabinet and appoint ministers who shared the vision of the All Progressives Congress, a coalition that united to remove the People’s Democratic Party of Goodluck Jonathan. — ©