5 times Aisha Buhari has been in the news for controversial reasons

When President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015, he said his administration would not recognize the office of the First Lady, but somehow, his spouse, Aisha Buhari got herself the First Lady title as she wields a considerable amount of influence in her husband’s government.

Lately, Nigeria’s First Lady, has been in the news not as a role model or a celebrated mother of the nation, but as a perceived bully whose action triggered a national outrage.

This is not the first time Mrs Buhari would be a subject of controversial matters as there have been other instances when the First Lady was called out on social media.

Below are five times Nigeria’s 51-year-old First Lady has been in the news for controversial reasons.

Alleged arrest of an undergraduate

A student of the the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, Aminu Mohammed was reportedly arrested on the order of Mrs Buhari after the student accused her of spending and feeding on public funds.

According to the student’s family, Aminu was arrested and taken to the First Lady in Presidential Villa where he was beaten and detained.

The arrest of the student sparked outrage on social media as Nigerians blasted the First Lady and called for Aminu’s release.

However, while Mrs Buhari has not commented on the matter, the police have denied the arrest of the 500 level student.

Insensitive celebration of daughter-in-law’s graduation

Mrs Buhari incurred the wrath of angry Nigerians in September 2022, when she took to her Facebook page to celebrate the graduation of her daughter-in-law, Zahra Buhari from a foreign university.

Aisha Buhari, her daughter-in-law, Zahra Buhari and her son, Yusuf Buhari (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

The President’s wife was lambasted for insensitively publishing such a post at a time Nigerian universities were under lock and keys for several months.

Many Nigerians found it difficult to believe that the First Lady could carelessly celebrate Zahra’s graduation while millions of Nigerian undergraduates were forced to stay at home due the ASUU Strike crisis her husband's administration failed to resolve.

Gunshots in Aso Rock and Aisha’s fight with Buhari’s cousin

In June 2020, Pulse reported how gunshots in Aso Rock escalated a heated argument between Mrs Buhari and the President’s aide, Sabiu Yusuf amid COVID-19 lockdown.

The argument reportedly started after Sabiu, who is said to be Buhari’s cousin returned to the Villa after a trip to Lagos, where he had gone to meet his wife who had just delivered a baby.

Upon his return, the First Lady and three of her children, Zahra, Halima and Yusuf together with some security aides led by her Aide-de-Camp, Usman Shugaba went to Sabiu’s residence to ask him to self-isolate for 14 days so as not to endanger the first family.

The encounter degenerated into a heated argument between Sabiu and Aisha, as the President’s cousin maintained that he was not the only aide that traveled to Lagos.

In the heat of the argument, the First Lady’s ADC, Usman Shugaba in an attempt to apprehend Sabiu reportedly fired gunshots, but the president’s aide escaped to the nearby residence of President Buhari’s cousin, Mamman Daura, where he reportedly spent the night.

Aisha accused her ADC of fraud

The use of the state power is a recurring decimal in controversial issues involving the First Lady.

In 2018, Mrs Buhari requested the then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to arrest her own Aide De Camp, Sani Baban-Inna after accusing him of N2.5billion fraud.

According to Premium Times, the First Lady alleged that Sani received huge donations from politicians and business people on her behalf and then kept the cash to himself.

While Mrs Buhari confirmed in a statement that Baban-Inna defrauded her, she claimed she had no hand in his arrest and detention.