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Aisha Buhari attacks Shehu Garba, Mamman Daura says they are no more loyal to PMB
First Lady Aisha Buhari has accused Mamman Daura of allegedly undermining her office by issuing a presidential directive without her husband’s knowledge.
In a statement signed by her and made available to Daily Trust Wednesday morning, Mrs Buhari said the directive scrapping the office of the first lady was issued by Daura through a presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
Aisha said the directive was an embarrassment to the president.
“As spokesperson of the President, he has the onerous responsibility of managing the image of the President and all the good works that he is executing in the country. Rather than face this responsibility squarely, he has shifted his loyalty from the President to others who have no stake in the compact that the President signed with Nigerians on May 29, 2015, and 2019,” the statement said.
“To make matters worse, Mr Shehu has presented himself to these people as a willing tool and executioner of their antics, from the corridors of power even to the level of interfering with the family affairs of the President. This should not be so. The blatant meddling in the affairs of a First Lady of a country is a continuation of the prodigal actions of those that he serves. Mamman Daura and Muhammadu Buhari.
A video of Aisha’s clash with Daura’s family in 2017 leaked sometime in October when they were instructed to leave the Glass House in Aso Villa for another apartment.
Aisha has been critical of Daura as one of the supposed members of the cabal who have allegedly hijacked Buhari’s government.
“We all remember that the chief proponent appropriated to himself and his family a part of the Presidential Villa, where he stayed for almost 4 years and when the time came for him to leave, he orchestrated and invaded my family’s privacy through a video circulated by Mamman’s Daughter, Fatima, the public was given the impression that on arrival into the country I was locked out of the villa by Mr. President,” she said.
“Garba Shehu as Villa Spokesperson, knew the truth and had the responsibility to set the records straight, but because his allegiance is somewhere else and his loyalty misplaced, he deliberately refused to clear the air and speak for the President who appointed him in the first place. Consequently, his action has shown a complete breakdown of trust between the First Family and him.”
“Mr. Shehu was privy and part of the plan and its execution and he was shocked when he realized that I had publicized my return to Nigeria on October 12, 2019, and cleared the air on the many rumours that took over social media, a job he was supposed to do but kept mute to cause more confusion and instability for his Principal and his family.
“Garba then, vented his anger on the National Television Authority (NTA) Management insisting that the media crew to my office must be sacked. He succeeded in getting them suspended for doing their job. I had to intervene to save the innocent staff from losing their means of livelihood by involving the Department of State Services (DSS) in order to ascertain roles played by key actors in the saga.”
“It is at this late hour that I recall, sadly, that it was the same Garba Shehu who claimed that the government will not allow office of the First Lady to run. He was later to confirm to one of my aides that he was instructed to say so by Mamman Daura and not the President.
“This antic attracted the anger of Nigerian women. He didn’t realize the fact that First Lady’s office is a tradition which has become an institution.
“Today, even without a budget, I am able to run my humanitarian programmes. In saner climes, Garba Shehu would have resigned immediately after going beyond his boundaries and powers.
“The latest of his antics was to wage a war on the first family through an orchestrated media campaign of calumny by sponsoring pseudo accounts to write and defame my children and myself. Based on Garba Shehu’s misguided sense of loyalty and inability to stay true and loyal to one person or group, it has become apparent that all trust has broken down between him and my family due to the many embarrassments he has caused the Presidency and the first family. We all have families to consider in our actions and therefore it is in the best interest of all concerned for Garba Shehu to take the advice of the authority, given to him sometimes in the first week of November, 2019.”
Marketers have demanded direct access to Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Dangote refinery, criticising the firm grip of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on the market.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said the market should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller commitment earlier made by the corporation.
The NNPCL had last Saturday said it was not the sole off-taker of products from the Dangote refinery, adding that the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketer.
But a week after the statement, the Federal Government announced that the company would be the sole buyer of petrol from the refinery.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, noted that interested marketers would have to buy the product from the national oil firm through its trading company.
The minister, represented by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr Zacceus Adedeji, also announced that the Dangote refinery would commence the distribution of petrol to marketers on Sunday with an initial 25 million litres per day.
He said, “I am glad to announce that all agreements have been put in place, and the loading of the first batch of PMS, as already announced by NNPC, will commence on Sunday, September 15, 2024. And from October 1, NNPC will commence the supply of crude oil to the Dangote refinery to be paid in naira.
“In return, Dangote refinery will supply PMS and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid in naira. But for now, PMS will only be sold to NNPC. NNPC will then sell to various marketers.”
Reacting, Ukadike said the market should be liberalised.
“It should be open for all in line with the willing-buyer and willing-seller comments made by the NNPC. We are also looking at how to build our logistics and come up with our price,” he stated.
Also, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, raised concerns over the risks of creating a new domestic monopoly in the oil and gas sector.
Gillis-Harry said, “Right now, even on Saturday, that business (petrol) is going to start rolling out tomorrow (Sunday), we don’t know what the price might be. Nobody has informed us about anything; we are not aware of what the government is doing.
“We don’t know any of the pricing templates yet or the matrix that will bring about the pricing template. We have been asking Dangote or anybody that is in charge of this transaction to be transparent, but somehow, we have not got any of that information.
“We are about to leave NNPC monopoly from importation and now we are also going to have that in a domestic environment, that portends danger for the industry.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on Saturday said about 300 trucks have arrived at the Dangote Refinery ahead of the loading of petrol.
The company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed the arrival of the trucks at the refinery via X.
Soneye wrote: “We (NNPC Ltd) has started deploying our trucks and vessels to the Dangote Refinery to lift PMS (petrol), in preparation for the scheduled lifting date of September 15th, as set by the refinery.
“By the end of today, at least 300 trucks will be stationed at the refinery’s fuel loading gantry.”
Similarly, NNPC said trucks have been mobilized to the refinery ahead of Sunday’s loading.
“In preparation for the Dangote Refinery’s scheduled petrol loading on Sunday, September 15, 2024, NNPC Ltd. has been mobilizing trucks to the refinery’s fuel loading gantry in Ibeju-Lekki.
“As of Saturday afternoon, NNPC Ltd. had deployed over 100 trucks, with hundreds more en route,” NNPC Ltd. wrote on X.
Last week, the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, announced the commencement of fuel production.
Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has declared the upcoming governorship election in the state “a do-or-die affair”.
The Edo state off-cycle gubernatorial election is slated to be held on September 21.
Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) are the main contenders in the election.
Speaking at the PDP grand finale rally in the Ekenwan area of Benin City, the state capital, Obaseki berated Adams Oshiomhole, his predecessor, for performing below par during his tenure.
“The person I took over from had no respect for our people, had no respect for women, encouraged prostitution and women’s trafficking,” Obaseki said.
“When I took over office, our pensioners wore black on Labor Day, but today they wear white.
“When I took office, our youths had no jobs, but today don’t they have jobs? After eight years, is Edo not one of the safest in Nigeria?
“This election is do or die; if they do, we will die. Next week Saturday by this time, vote for the PDP to become the next governor.”
On Thursday, political parties and their candidates in Edo signed the peace accord to allow for a free and fair election in the state, although the PDP declined to sign the agreement.
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