‘Is She Talking To Boarding School Students?’ — Aisha Buhari’s Conditional Dinner Invitation To Atiku, Tinubu, Others Sparks Reactions
First Lady Aisha Buhari’s dinner invitation to all 2023 presidential aspirants has been described as deeply condescending to some of the invitees who include a serving vice president, former vice president, serving and former governors, amongst others.
Mrs. Buhari was accused of exhibiting arrogance and showing disrespect for the status of the presidential aspirants by also stating that the invitees are not allowed to attend the dinner with their phones.
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It was learnt that only Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and serving governors and ministers were exempted from the directive barring the invitees from coming to the venue of the dinner with their phones.
The likes of former vice president Atiku Abubakar and the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who are among those invited to the dinner scheduled for Saturday, are barred from attending with their phones.
Some Nigerians who reacted to the news on social media said that the president’s wife lacks any “constitutional authority” to issue such invitations to aspirants seeking to take over from her husband in 2023.
A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, said “Any Presidential aspirant that accepts this summons by Aisha Buhari, disguised as an invitation, is not a man and should not be voted for. Aisha lacks moral or constitutional authority to summon anyone. A woman whose husband described as belonging to his other room?”
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Omokri, who reacted in a series of tweets on Thursday, said he was confident that Atiku would not honour the invitation.
“I don’t know about other aspirants, but I can assure Nigerians that Atiku Abubakar will never attend this event, or any other summons issued by Aisha Buhari. Imagine the audacity! Phones are not allowed?
“I seriously doubt that even Bola Tinubu will be unwise enough to attend such. You can just imagine? She is not even talking to them. She is talking AT them. Who are you Aisha?” he queried.
But addressing the criticisms, the First Lady’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Aliyu Abdullahi, said “There is nothing here. This is a standard operational protocol in the Villa when you are having either of the three occupants of the Presidency. If they are coming for an event, this is supposed to be DSS enforced.
“Whether the president is having an event or the Vice President is having an event or the first lady is having an event. Because outsiders will come. That’s the security and standard protocol.
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“That does not apply to the Vice President. How can you expect that to apply to the Vice President or even to ministers?” The Guardian quoted Abdullahi to have clarified.
Below are some of the Twitter reactions to Mrs Buhari’s invitation to the presidential aspirants.
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