President's wife writes to Fayose, demands withdrawal of his accusation

Aisha Buhari, the wife of the President has again reacted to the allegation made by Governor Ayodele Fayose that she transferred funds to a convicted former U.S. lawmaker, Williams Jefferson.

This was contained in a letter titled: "Demand for unqualified retraction of the false statement published by you in various media on the 20th of June, 2016, and subsequent dates regarding our client, Her Excellency, Mrs. Aisha Buhari the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR", which was obtained by Premium Times on Wednesday, June 22, 2016.

Mrs Buhari issued a five-day ultimatum to the governor demanding a full retraction of the widely-circulated material issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi.

The letter reads: "Our client has referred to us statement made by you and published on the 20th of June, 2016 (and other subsequent days) concerning and pertaining to her person for necessary action.

"The said statement which was caused by you and your agents to be widely circulated and published in various media platforms: print, electronic and online such as PREMIUM TIMES www.premiumtimesng.com on 20th of June, 2016, contains very wild, unfounded and false allegations and imputations against the person of our client.

"Specifically, in the said statement credited to you and signed by your Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, you, inter alia, false stated as follows:

"Even the president cannot claim to be an angel. The estate he built in Abuja is known to us. His wife was indicted over the Halliburton Scandal (sic). When that American, Jeferson, was being sentenced, the President’s wife was mentioned as having wired $170,000 to Jefferson. Her name was on page 25 of the sentencing of Jefferson. We can serialise the judgement for people to see and read,” Ismaila Alasa and Mary Ekpene, who signed the letter on behalf of the law firm, said.

"Take notice that unless you and your agents meet our humble demands within 5 (five) working days of the receipt of this letter, we shall take all necessary steps within the contemplation of the law to seek redress for our client.”

Fayose had on Monday, June 20, 2016 distributed a statement which contained excerpts of court documents sourced from the United States Department of Justice Website.

In the statement, the governor said Mrs Buhari was an accomplice in the bribery scandal that landed Mr Jefferson in jail, saying he added the link as a proof.

The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde however debunked the governor's claim.

President Buhari had in the past stated that he had no connection with the Aisha Buhari in the Jefferson scandal, who is also said to be based in the United States.