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Aishat Buhari confirms husband doesn’t rule Nigeria.
When I publicly voiced my concerns in 2018 that Muhammadu Buhari was too cognitively and physically ill to have the capacity to govern Nigeria and that the country was being ruled on his behalf by an unorganised and unelected gaggle of corrupt cronies and family members, some people didn’t believe me.
But his wife’s unprecedentedly stinging public censure of presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu and Mamman Daura, Buhari’s nephew, on December 11, 2019 provides evidentiary grounding for what most of us have always known and said: that Buhari is too weighed down by dementia and physical infirmity to even control his immediate family, let alone rule a country of nearly 200 million people.
In my January 19, 2019 column titled “Buhari’s Physical and Mental Health is now a National Emergency,” I noted the following:
“On November 23, 2018, for instance, I tweeted that a doctor who has met Buhari during a personal, non-medical visit told me he was troubled that Buhari appeared to evince tell-tale symptoms of dementia (of which Alzheimer’s disease is a type), which is often characterised by repetitiveness, unawareness, mental deterioration, impaired memory, diminished quality of thought, slurred speech, and finally complete helplessness.”
“A friend whose dad has dementia and who has also met Buhari in the recent past had earlier told me Buhari reminded her of her dad whom she forced to retire, adding, sadly, that Buhari’s dementia is way worse than her dad’s is. She was, and still is, concerned that Nigeria has no president. She’s right, and the evidence stares us every day. Buhari barely has any awareness of his existence, much less the requirements of being president…
“People around the president are intimately familiar with his considerably diminished sentience and his notoriously declining short-term memory.
As a consequence, he is being taken advantage of by several people close to him. Aso Rock insiders say Buhari doesn’t remember anything, so no one even obeys his instructions–if he gives any at all. The last person to see him gets him to do whatever they want. Someone from the Presidential Villa told me it’s precisely because of this fact that governors frequent the Villa several times in a week; they are in a race to be the last people to see the president before he takes decisions and signs off on them.
“If you think with Buhari as president Nigeria has a president, you should sue your brain for non-support; you’re NOT thinking! We have a national emergency on our hands. Buhari appears infirm both in mind and in body. Without a doubt, other people are ruling on his behalf, and his own wife hinted at that when she said her husband’s presidency had been hijacked by a three-man cabal.”
Aisha also told TVC’s, “Journalists’ Hangout” that she doesn’t have private conversations with her husband. “There is no pillow in the villa,” she said. “No, because we are always busy listening to one story or another. I think the people he puts in the cabinet, they should just sit up and do the needful. That is why it is not good to have godfatherism.”
A lot of people were flustered by the revelation that she has no access to her husband. But I am not.
I actually hinted at that in my October 22, 2016 column titled “Aisha Buhari and the Evil Aso Rock Cabal.”
Here’s what I wrote:
“This [her BBC Hausa interview chastising her husband’s government] can only mean that although Aisha is formally married to President Buhari, she is actually isolated from him. This is consistent with what I’ve heard from inside sources about the relationship between the first couple. Buhari is held hostage by an evil, sneaky, corrupt, vulturous, and conniving cabal that ensures that his wife doesn’t see him even in the ‘kitchen,’ the ‘living room,’ or ‘the other room.’
“The BBC interview was Aisha’s vigorous ventilation of pent-up anguish against a cold, calculating, and corrupt cabal that has made Buhari a stranger to his own wife.”
And I had written about Aisha’s December 11 revelation that Garba Shehu and other Aso Rock media aides have no access to Buhari and take directives from Mamman Daura and other unelected Buhari cronies and family members.
In my August 26, 2017 column titled “Garba Shehu, Presidential Villa Rodents and Bad PR,” I wrote the following, which Aisha just confirmed:
“First, it’s obvious that both Adesina and Shehu don’t have a robust, direct access to the president. Directives don’t seem to always come directly from the president to his media aides. It’s usually, it would appear, from the president to a tortuous labyrinth of surrogates before it gets to the media team. Most of the times, it’s actually influential people connected—or thought to be connected—to the president who dictate what the presidential media team says to the public.
“I recall an incident in late 2015 that left me in no doubt that the president’s media team members don’t enjoy the respect usually accorded to presidential spokespeople. I was having an argument with someone close to the Buhari presidency over something, and he suddenly said, ‘I will tell the president’s media team to issue a statement to clarify this.’ A few hours later, a statement was issued expressing the exact sentiments of my interlocutor who isn’t even officially a part of the government. That blew me away.
“So, basically, the presidential spokespeople are mere errand boys of Buhari’s shadowy surrogates and a motley crowd of official, semi-official, and unofficial power brokers who pull the levers of power in the presidency.
“No public relations person, however smart he might be, can function optimally in the kind of politically toxic and factious environment that the Buhari presidency exemplifies.”
I warned Nigerians in the run-up to the 2019 election that if they voted APC, they were voting Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari, not Buhari who is barely aware of his own existence. People who thought I was merely being mischievous are now coming to terms with what I said.
For selfish reasons, Aisha won’t reveal the true state of her husband’s health, but she’s opportunistically railing against someone who is taking orders from people who hold the real power. As they say, nature abhors a vacuum. If Buhari can’t exercise power, others will exercise it on his behalf and in his name.
If Nigeria weren’t the dysfunctional theatre of the absurd that it is, the revelations from Aisha Buhari would be regarded as a national emergency.
The National Assembly would have constituted an independent team of medical experts to examine the state of Buhari’s physical and mental state.
Prof Farooq Kperogi
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted a couple from their residence in the Iluabo area of Akure North Local Government, Ondo State.
During the attack, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, February 21, 2026, the assailants shot one person before seizing the victims.
The gunmen had stormed Olaribigba Estate in the community when they whisked Mr Jamiu Olawale and his wife into the bush.
Following the development, which has created tension in the agrarian community, residents protested and barricaded the road leading to the community over the incessant kidnappings and insecurity in the community.
According to sources, the couple had arrived at their residence in an ash-coloured Toyota Camry when they were attacked by the gunmen, who lay in ambush for them.
During the incident, a neighbour of the abducted couple, Patrick Ilumaro, who was seated in front of his residence, was shot by the gunmen while fleeing from the community.
A neighbour of the victims revealed that Ilumaro was swiftly rushed to an undisclosed medical facility where he is currently receiving medical treatment.
While confirming the incident, the Ondo State Police Command disclosed that tactical teams as well as conventional operatives have been deployed to the community.
In a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Abayomi Jimoh, the operatives are already combing the axis in an effort to rescue the victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
“Concerted efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe return of the abducted persons and bring those responsible to justice.
“Members of the public are urged to remain calm and go about their lawful activities. Meanwhile, the Command urges them to provide credible and actionable information that may assist in the investigation to the nearest police station.”
One person died and four others were rescued following a road accident at Ekoro Junction, Abule-Egba, on Friday evening, according to a statement from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority.
The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, made this known in a statement issued on the agency’s X handle on Saturday.
According to the agency, the crash occurred at about 7:30 p.m. when an empty MACK tanker suffered a sudden brake failure, lost control and rammed into a Toyota Corolla before crashing into a roadside shop.
LASTMA said the tanker, with registration number EKY 900 XY, collided with a Toyota Corolla marked AAA 823 AY.
The impact caused extensive structural damage to the shop and triggered panic among traders and pedestrians in the area.
“The magnitude of the collision led to the immediate confirmation of one fatality at the scene, while four other trapped persons were extricated from the wreckage through coordinated emergency rescue efforts,” the agency stated.
The authority said it immediately activated its Rescue and Recovery Protocol, deploying specialised operatives to manage the situation.
“Personnel implemented strategic traffic diversion, vehicular evacuation procedures and crowd management in synergy with other emergency responders to forestall secondary incidents and guarantee unobstructed access for rescue operations,” LASTMA added.
It stated that emergency teams carried out rescue operations and provided medical attention to the injured victims.
According to the agency, a heavy-duty tow truck was later deployed to evacuate the damaged tanker and clear debris from the road to restore normal traffic flow.
The agency disclosed that the tanker driver fled the scene shortly after the crash and security operatives have since launched efforts to apprehend the driver and initiate legal proceedings.
“Security personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, Ekoro Division, responded expeditiously, maintaining public order, securing the accident perimeter and assisting in investigative processes aimed at establishing the precise sequence of events that culminated in the mechanical failure and subsequent collision.
“The incident precipitated considerable traffic congestion extending across adjoining routes toward Abule-Egba, necessitating robust traffic management interventions by LASTMA officials who remained on ground directing vehicular movement and implementing diversion strategies to alleviate the backlog,” it said.
According to the agency, its General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed condolences to the family of the deceased and urged transport operators, particularly drivers of articulated vehicles, to prioritise routine vehicle maintenance.
“Preventable mechanical deficiencies remain a significant contributory factor in severe road traffic crashes,” Bakare-Oki said.
He also advised motorists to exercise vigilance, obey traffic regulations and maintain responsible driving practices, especially within densely populated commercial corridors.
Bakare-Oki assured the public that security agencies would conduct a thorough investigation to determine the immediate and remote causes of the incident and ensure that anyone found culpable would be prosecuted in accordance with extant laws.
The agency said other emergency responders at the scene included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Ambulance Service, the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit and officers of the Nigeria Police Force, collaborated to coordinate rescue, medical response and environmental safety measures.
The Department of State Services (DSS) will arraign former Governnor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, on February 25 over alleged cybercrime and breach of national security.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court has fixed the date for the arraignment of the former Governor on a three-count criminal charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) after the Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho assigned the case to her.
NAN earlier reported that the DSS, on Monday, filed a three-count criminal charge against El-Rufai following his alleged involvement in wiretapping the telephone lines of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
The charge, instituted by the Nigerian secret police, is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026.
The service accused El-Rufai of breaching the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act (2024) and the Nigerian Communications Act (2003.)
In court, El-Rufai was alleged to have, on Feb. 13, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, admitted during the interview that he and his cohorts unlawfully intercepted the phone communications of the NSA, Mr Ribadu.
The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
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News2 days agoCourt Sets Feb 25 For El-Rufai’s Arraignment In DSS Cybercrime Case
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