‘I knew my husband needed help’ — Aisha Buhari speaks on being vocal as first lady

Aisha Buhari, wife of the outgoing president, has spoken on her time as first lady and the performance of her husband in office.

In an interview with The Sun published on Saturday, Aisha said President Muhammadu Buhari fulfilled half of his campaign promises.

She said insecurity has been significantly tackled under the administration of her husband.

“Compared to what we met on the ground, he has done wonderfully well. But if one is to compare with the zeal that we came into power, we have achieved 50 percent in all the areas captured in his campaign promises. Especially in the areas of works like road constructions, bridges, you know, infrastructure in general. He has made a lot of difference,” Aisha said.

On security, she scored the president 70 percent, noting that most kidnappings were perpetrated by family members for mischievous purposes.

“I think maybe we scored 70 percent on security. I say so because before now, there were a lot of barricades, a lot of roadblocks, but now there are no more roadblocks, nothing,” Aisha said.

“Even the kidnapping that is happening now is being organised among the family members. It is a deliberate thing, you know. And then the insurgency or the banditry may be organised by some local people, you know. But if there is no connivance, I can say that we have achieved 90 percent on security.”

According to Aisha, the president “received Nigeria intact, and he is going to hand over Nigeria intact”.

Although she noted that she was not mentally prepared for the task, Aisha said she was relentless in her support for her husband and prioritised the welfare of Nigerians.

The president’s wife said she openly criticised decisions that were “taken for the interest of one person and not for the general public’s interests”.

She said some decision-makers were oblivious to the fact that her husband was elected because of the love Nigerians have for him.

“So, I told myself we cannot afford that, I just knew my husband needed help,” she added.

“That is why I am here as a First Lady and as a wife. I don’t like people who want to make money to rubbish the image of the family, the hard-earned name of my husband, you know, and then we keep quiet and look at the person.

“So that’s why I normally step in and speak up.”