EXCLUSIVE: How ‘Diversion’ Of N500m May Cause Messy Fight Between Aisha Buhari, Women Affairs Minister Tallen

A messy fight is brewing between the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, and the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, over the latter’s alleged diversion of N500 million donated toward the construction of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) secretariat headed by the First Lady.

Sources with details of how Mrs. Buhari recently confronted Tallen over the alleged diverted funds told THE WHISTLER that the quarrel may snowball into a national scandal likely to cause embarrassment for the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

AFLPM was established in 1996 to undertake peace missions to African nations, mitigate violent conflicts and minimize their negative impact on the people, especially women, and children.

At the 9th general assembly of AFLPM held in 2021 in Abuja, Mrs. Buhari was elected as the Mission’s ninth president.

Ahead of the meeting, the Nigerian First Lady announced that she had secured 2.7 hectares of land in Abuja alongside N500 million donation from the Federal Government toward the construction of the permanent secretariat of the mission.

In May 2022, Mrs. Buhari promised that the AFLPM Secretariat would be ready in 11 months from that time (April 2023).

A source in the Presidency told THE WHISTLER that the First Lady wanted the project completed and commissioned before the end of her husband’s second and concluding tenure as president.

But Tallen’s failure to make available the funds donated by the Federal Government through the Minister of Finance was believed to have slowed down the pace of work on the project.

According to the source, the Women Affairs Minister received the money during one of Mrs. Buhari’s holidays in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but failed to inform the First Lady or release the funds for the advancement of the project.

This prompted the First Lady to approach the Minister of Finance for clarification on the status of the money but was shocked to learn that it had been released to Tallen.

The First Lady, according to the source, then approached the Women Affairs Minister requesting the whereabouts of the money or how it was spent but the latter allegedly could not account for it.

Mrs. Buhari’s open appeal to Tallen during her inspection of the ongoing project to “immediately credit the account of the peace Mission” was said to be a way of putting the minister on the spot and getting her to refund the money.

The First Lady said AFLPM awaits the minister’s transfer “for adequate compilation, auditing and handing over process” after completion of the new permanent secretariat.

“If the minister should fail to respond promptly by rendering the money in the next couple of days, Nigerians may witness another controversy involving the First Lady in the remaining days of President Buhari’s tenure in office,” said the Presidency official who asked not to be mentioned.

Mrs. Buhari is not one to shy away from controversies as her last eight years as First Lady was brimmed with several scandals, including a messy fight with Fatima Daura, the daughter of President Buhari’s nephew and close confidant, Mamman Daura.