President Muhammadu Buhari has dismissed the allegation made by his wife, Aisha, that he is a captive to a cabal that determines what happens in his administration and demanded evidence for the claim.
The President made the denial in an interview with Voice of America, Hausa Service.
The President’s wife had earlier this month while speaking an event organised by of the many Buhari support groups alleged that two or three people who have dominated her husband’s government.
She said, “Our votes were 15.4 million in the last (presidential) election and after that only, for us to be dominated by two people… this is totally unacceptable.
“If 15.4 million people can bring in a government and only for the government to be dominated by two people or three people, where are the men of Nigeria? Where are the Nigerian men? What are you doing? Instead of them to come together and fight them, they keep visiting them one after the other licking their shoes (I’m sorry to use those words).”
But during the interview with VOA, the President was asked to formally respond to the allegations in the light of his wife’s recent statement.
“Have you heard of the word cabal? So many people have spoken about the cabal; alleging that there are a few people in charge of this administration, that you are not the one in charge. Even your wife said something about this recently,” the VOA reporter had asked.
In response, President Buhari said, “That’s her business. It shows I am a real democrat… What they are saying is different from what is happening. They (those making these allegations) should come out and say those things they feel were stage-managed by the cabal, which I was forced to do. They should mention just one thing.”
The Abuja outburst was not the first time Aisha Buhari complained about the cabal, she first made the allegation during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Hausa Service.
She had said, “The President does not know 45 out of 50 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 threatened then not to be part of the President’s re-election campaign if the activities of the cabal was not checked.