Aisha speaks on the President Buhari wedding that never was

If you believed social media and the rumour mill, President Muhammadu Buhari was all set to marry his Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, on Friday, October 11, 2019.

Social media had fun while the rumour lasted, with users throwing in memes and pictures aplenty to poke fun at themselves over the 'palace wedding' that never was.

Some persons even trooped to the Aso Rock mosque on Friday, October 11 to witness the rumoured wedding.

Sadiya was rumoured to be Buhari's bride (Daily Post) Pulse Nigeria

Two days later, First Lady Aisha Buhari returned to Nigeria after a two-month hiatus. She spoke to BBC Hausa afterwards, touching on her vacation and the fake wedding that trended on the social networks for hours.

Excerpts below...

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Aisha Buhari: Well I want to thank God for bringing me home safely. As you can see, I just arrived and for about 27 years now, between the months of June and July, we usually travel when our children are on holidays, and spend between 6 weeks to 2 months outside of the country.

I don't really get the opportunity to spend too much time with my kids as you all know.

Like last year, I went to Spain, until Zahra gave birth and I spent 2 months before I came back.

The same thing this year. Our holiday period came around and we all went on holidays. However, I noticed I was a bit under the weather and my doctor advised me to stay back awhile in order to monitor my health properly.

Aisha Buhari says the best person to ask about the wedding is her husband, the President (Presidency) ece-auto-gen

From there, I left for Saudi Arabia, because I initially had the intention of participating in the Hajj (Pilgrimage). So, instead of coming back to Nigeria and heading to Saudi Arabia, I just went to England.

After the Hajj, I noticed I was feeling ill so I returned to England.

Now I'm working based on doctors' orders, and the orders are--for me to slow down or take it easy on my daily activities and because of this, I would like to extend my gratitude to my husband for appointing Special Assistants to my Office to help me. In the past, I did everything on my own, but with the aid of Special Assistants I can now cater to my health and have time for my kids.

Interviewer: After you left, a lot happened and one thing in particular is the rumors of the president getting married to another. What have you got to say about this?

Aisha Buhari : I honestly don't know what happened because I was not here. Secondly, it is Buhari they said will be getting married and not me, Aisha, so he will be in a better position to come and tell the public if it is true or false.

Chief Justice of Nigeria Mahmud Mohammed swears in Muhammadu Buhari (C) as Nigeria's president while Buhari's wife Aisha looks on at Eagle Square in Abuja, Nigeria May 29, 2015. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde ece-auto-gen

But the lady they said that he was going to marry and the person that told her the wedding was going to happen did not expect the wedding not to hold. Because it was after she saw that the wedding did not hold that was when she reached out to me. So I am not in the position to say they will get married or not, because I am already a married woman so it's none of my business.

Interviewer: People are of the opinion that your absence is what brought about these rumors and some claim your long absence was some sort of protest on your part concerning the wedding preparations.

Aisha Buhari: (Laughs) Protest? What protest? In the past, the rumors that were going round when my husband was hospitalized...people were posting pictures of a corpse being moved in an ambulance and saying it was my husband. I got calls from First Ladies of other countries calling to ask,and leaders of other countries were calling to ask.

I drew the attention of the regulatory bodies like NCC, NBC and the likes and I told them: "If you allow these rumors to continue, they will birth crisis that will be hard to handle. I'm not saying it because today people are saying see my husbands corpse, see my house, see the ambulance."

I told them: "You know the people responsible for these rumors." But they left the people to go scot free till today. So this one too, I am not surprised or bothered.