[Mhiz Rebecca]

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife has
warned him that she may not back him at the next
election unless he shakes up his government.
In a BBC interview, Aisha Buhari said the president
“does not know” most of the top officials he has
appointed.
She suggested the government had been hijacked,
saying a “few people” were behind presidential
appointments.
Mr Buhari was elected last year with a promise to
tackle corruption and nepotism in government.
His wife’s decision to go public with her concerns
will shock many people, but it shows the level of
discontent with the president’s leadership, says the
BBC’s Naziru Mikailu in the capital, Abuja.
The president famously remarked at his
inauguration that he “belongs to nobody and
belongs to everybody”.
In the interview with Naziru Mikailu, Mrs Buhari
said: “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.”
She said people who did not share the vision of the
ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were now
appointed to top posts because of the influence a
“few people” wield.
“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.”
Asked to name those who had hijacked the
government, she refused, saying: “You will know
them if you watch television.”
On whether the president was in charge, she said:
“That is left for the people to decide.”
Mrs Buhari said her husband had not told her
whether he would contest the 2019 election.
“He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife,
that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not
go out and campaign again and ask any woman to
vote like I did before. I will never do it again.”
Asked what she regarded as the government’s
major achievement, she said it was to improve
security in the north-east where militant Islamist
group Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since
2009.
“No-one is complaining about being attacked in
their own homes. Thankfully everyone can walk
around freely, go to places of worship, etc. Even
kids in Maiduguri have returned to schools,” Mrs
Buhari said, referring to the city which was once
the headquarters of the militant group.