In a revelatory new biography of former President Muhammadu Buhari, his wife, Aisha, has opened up about a defining struggle of his tenure: a power battle against an influential "cabal" within the presidential villa that she claims sought to isolate the First Family from the corridors of power.
The revelations are contained in the book, "From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari," authored by Dr. Charles Omole and launched in Abuja. The former First Lady offers a candid critique of a central weakness of her husband's administration—a failure to decisively remove underperforming officials—while issuing a pointed warning to his successor, President Bola Tinubu.
“This is my house”: Resisting Eviction and Defining Turf
The biography provides a dramatic account of Aisha Buhari’s pushback against what she describes as an encroaching ecosystem within Aso Villa. She details how the residence filled with relatives, their families, and close aides who "learned the shortcuts and shadows," and who "tried to push everybody out, including me."
Her resistance was firm and rooted in a clear delineation of authority. “This is my house. You can live wherever you like, but you cannot be in charge of my husband’s office and then also be in charge of me, his wife, inside my house,” she is quoted as saying in the book.
According to Aisha, these individuals capitalized on President Buhari’s deep attachment to his extended family and old friends, exploiting his vulnerabilities to manipulate him to the detriment of his administration's goals. Familiar faces from the opposition years were "locked out," while relatives with no official roles began influencing access to the villa.
The "Dictator" Fear and a Shield for Mediocrity
Aisha attributes her husband's reluctance to dismiss non-performers to a complex mix of aging, sympathy, and a deep-seated fear of public perception. “As you age, performance changes,” she notes, explaining that Buhari often felt sorry for struggling appointees.
However, she argues that a more powerful restraint was his anxiety about being labeled a dictator again. She quotes him as saying, “If I remove him, they will say I am this and that.” This hesitation, she insists, became a shield for mediocrity, with the phrase "the devil you know" justifying the retention of failing officials even as policy execution stalled.
Her own stance was more pragmatic: “if an official ‘eats’ but delivers at least 50 per cent, tolerate him; if he ‘eats’ and does nothing, remove him.” She laments that his refusal to act became a structural flaw, worsened by aides who used flattery and emotional pressure to turn loyalty into a barrier against accountability.
Even after leaving office, Aisha claims Buhari privately appealed to President Tinubu not to probe some of his kinsmen, as he still relied on them for personal needs. For the former First Lady, this demonstrated the profound and lasting danger of emotional dependence at the pinnacle of power. Her sharp reflections in the biography stand as both a historical account of internal strife and a stark warning for future administrations about the perils of blurred boundaries and unaccountable influence.
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