By Prosper Mene
Former First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari, has disclosed that she fiercely resisted efforts by a powerful group of relatives and associates to evict her and her children from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa during her late husband’s administration.
In revelations from a new biography chronicling the life of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Mrs. Buhari described how extended family members, their wives, and grandchildren occupied multiple residences within the Villa, creating an “ecosystem” that blurred personal and official boundaries.
“With most of our children studying abroad during the first term, the houses filled up quickly with relatives and courtiers,” the book quotes her as saying. She accused these individuals of exploiting President Buhari’s emotional attachments to family and old friends, manipulating access and influence to the detriment of national goals.
Mrs. Buhari recounted concerted attempts to isolate and push her out of the Villa, stating: “They tried to push everybody out, including me.” However, she stood firm, refusing to negotiate space or yield to what she described as scheming by unelected actors with no official roles.
The former First Lady also criticized the administration’s reluctance to remove underperforming officials, a weakness she attributed to the late President’s fear of being seen as dictatorial. She advised successor President Bola Tinubu against repeating such mistakes, advocating a pragmatic approach: tolerate officials delivering at least 50% performance, but remove those who deliver nothing.
Mrs. Buhari’s account adds to longstanding discussions about the influence of informal “cabals” in Nigerian politics, offering a rare insider perspective from the heart of the nation’s highest office.
