The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to consider more card-carrying members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for appointments when his second term commences.
The president defeated 72 opponents to win the February 23 presidential election and will be sworn in for a second term on May 29.
While speaking during a dinner organised to celebrate the president’s victory in his native Daura, Katsina State on Thursday, March 7, Aisha urged the president to reward more party members with political appointments.
According to a statement signed by her Director of Information, Suleiman Haruna, she said the party’s constitution specifies that party members should be given preference in appointments.
She urged the president to respect the party’s constitution and thanked Nigerians for rewarding him with re-election.
“I wish to thank the women and youths of this country for the number of votes they gave President Buhari in the 2019 election, and to assure that he will continue to do his best to make Nigeria a better country,” she said.
Aisha had publicly clashed with the president in 2016 when she said his government had been hijacked and complained that political appointments went to people he didn’t know or who didn’t contribute to his 2015 victory.
“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. Some people are sitting down in their homes, folding their arms, only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position,” she had said.
In response, the president said, “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 said he could claim superior knowledge over his wife because he’d run for presidential elections four times.