President Buhari approves appointment of new aides to serve in his wife’s office

President Buhari has approved the appointment of new aides to serve in his wife’s office.  Aisha Buhari returned to Nigeria last week after a prolonged stay abroad, amid rumours the president was taking a new wife.  

The government now officially refers to Mrs Buhari as “first lady”, after Mrs Buhari said she would no longer be known as “wife of the president”.  

While campaigning for office, Buhari had pledged to scrap the office of the first lady, saying it was not recognised by the constitution. The government apparently reneged on that promise and merely changed the title of the office to “wife of the president.”  

A spokesperson for the office, Suleiman Haruna, said Wednesday Mr Buhari had approved the following appointments:  

1) Dr. Mairo Almakura – Special Assistant on African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM)  

2) Muhammed Albishir – Special Assistant on Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD)  

3) Wole Aboderin – Special Assistant on Non-Governmental Organizations  

4) Barr. Aiyu Abdullahi – Special Assistant on Media and Publicity  

5) Zainab Kazeem – Special Assistant on Domestic and Social Events  

6) Funke Adesiyan – Personal Assistant on Domestic and Social Events.

The appointments take immediate effect.