I’d function as president’s wife ‘traditionally’ if first lady’s office is scrapped, says Buhari’s wife

Aisha Buhari, wife of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says her husband will not tamper with the office of the first lady if it is constitutionally recognised, otherwise she will perform her duties “traditionally”.

Reacting to her husband’s promise to scrap the office of the first lady because it was unconstitutional and an alleged conduit pipe for stealing public fund, she said if the office is unconstitutional, she will limit her roles to the traditional functions of visiting orphanages and caring for society’s downtrodden as the first lady.

She was speaking during the inaugural meeting of the APC women presidential campaign initiative in Abuja on Saturday.

“When my husband is elected as the president of this country, he will rule the country within the rule of law based on the constitution of the country,” she said.

“If the office of the first lady is constitutionally recognised, he will not tamper with it; but if it is not, that’s okay. For me, I will perform my duties and role as the wife of the president of Nigeria traditionally.

“Wives of presidents have some traditional roles, like receiving guests, visiting orphanages, helping the less-privileged people. They also lead in the fight for the rights of women and malnourished children, infant mortality rate, kidnapping and girl-child trafficking.”

While inaugurating of the initiative, Buhari urged the women to unite and cooperate with the men by mobilising women at all levels to ensure success at the February poll.

She urged them to double their efforts in educating other women on how to cast their votes and at the same time be civil in their conducts.

“As I am talking to you now, more than 55 percent of registered voters are women hence, it is imperative to have initiatives like this to mobilise fellow women at the grassroots,” she said.

“The meeting will plan campaign activities that will show case the potentials of the women wing in selling the programmes of our great party to the women.

“This will include mobilising women by creating voters awareness, particularly in the area of registration, collection of PVC, identifying the party logo and how to cast their votes.”

Also speaking, Oludolapo Osinbajo, wife of the party’s vice-presidential candidate, emphasised the need to assist women and the less-privileged in the society.

“I am happy that I am a mother, a wife and a sister. It is time to do more than we have been doing; encourage other women so that we all can be mothers of Nigeria,” she said.

“Mothers heal, comfort, nurture, provide, and sacrifice. We have this virtue in us and by the grace of God; we will be given the opportunity to express who we are as women.

“We are the ones who set the standard in the family; We decide whether our children will be honest or dishonest.

“We have this opportunity to effect change, not only to change the things that are happening in this nation, we have the opportunity to change ourselves.”

Present at the inauguration were the wives of the governors of Rivers, Imo and Nasarawa states, the national coordinator of #BringBackOurGirls campaign, and a host of other APC women and supporters.