Jonathan was good but bad people surrounded him – Aisha Buhari

Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on Saturday evening warned politicians who may be picked to work with President Muhammadu Buhari and all his political associates to be careful the way they carry themselves.

She admitted that it was not former President Goodluck Jonathan that is bad but the people that surrounded him
She said such people should be wary of the fact that it took her husband a journey of 12 years before getting to the position he currently occupies and hence, they should tread with caution.

Mrs. Buhari handed down the warning during an “Appreciation Dinner”  she hosted in honour of All Progressives Congress’ women and youths at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

She said it was because of that situation that she was warning those who will work with Buhari to know early enough that they are coming to serve the masses and not the President.

Mrs. Buhari argued that the behaviour of the people around her husband would go a long way in defining his Presidency.

“There is nothing people did not say about the past administration. It is not Jonathan that is not good but the people around him.

“So, the people that are going to be around General Buhari have to be very careful because this election ended peacefully.

“We are praying and hoping that people around him should know that it took him 12 years to get to that position and they must know that they are coming to serve the masses, not General Buhari in person.

“It is the people that are around him that will determine the political health of our state,” she said.

The President’s wife also promised that the current administration would run an open government.

She said government under her husband would be run in clear departure from what was obtainable under Jonathan when people were allegedly asked to be paying huge amount of money in foreign currency before they could see the President or his wife.

“I will like to inform you that in the past regime, whether it is true or false, only God knows, some people were going round and parading themselves as Personal Assistants.

“If you wanted to see the First Lady, you will pay $30,000 or $50,000 and if you are seeing the President, you will pay all that you have gathered in your lifetime.

“This will not happen in our regime. Whoever asks you to give a single penny in the name of coming to see the President or his wife is not our staff. He is not an APC member, it is a lie. Don’t be deceived,” she said.

Taking a look at her husband’s 12-year journey towards returning as President, Mrs. Buhari said her active participation in the last electioneering made the difference.

She said she did not take part in the campaigns of her husband’s first three shots at the Presidency because that was how those who surrounded him at that time wanted it.

This time, she said it was a national leader of the APC and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who encouraged her to play active role.

She also faulted claims that made the rounds ahead of the elections on the gender-sensitivity of her husband, saying they were mere fabrications.

Describing Buhari as the pillar of her success despite the generation gap between the two of them, she said it was the President who encouraged her to go to school.

Mrs. Buhari said, “Many people did not know why I was not appearing for the last three campaigns. I appeared only this time and I think it made a lot of difference. A lot of people said my husband earned four million votes as a result of my campaign.

“We were not sure but with the popularity of my husband, we thought then that he needed female support to cancel the all sorts of gender problems people have been attaching to him like that he kept me under a purdah.

“He had never kept me under a purdah even for a moment since I got married to him.

“Even now, by the recent campaigns, it was Bola Ahmed Tinubu who insisted that I should come out and support my husband. Not that I never like supporting my husband but it all depended on the people around him, that was before.

“And now too, it is the people around him that showed that they wanted me to participate, we did and we have seen the difference.

“My husband is a gender-sensitive human being, having so many girls as his own biological children and then having me as a wife, then you can see the generation gap. He allowed me to go to school. To cut the story short, he is the pillar of my success.”

The President’s wife said when Tinubu continued pestering her to join the campaign train, she talked to her husband who gave his approval.

She said she knew from the beginning that the campaign would not be easy, recalling that the greatest challenge she faced was security.

She recalled how the wife of the governor of Zamfara State had told her how supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party stopped their convoy from returning to Gusau, the state capital up until 4am at a point.

The President’s wife said she also had her own raw deal when she joined the campaign train to Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

Those who attended the dinner included wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo; wife of the President of the Senate, Mrs. Toyin Saraki; wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Gimbia Dogara; wife of the National Chairman of the APC, Mrs. Victoria Odigie-Oyegun; wives of APC state governors, APC female deputy governors; wives of former governors on the platform of the party and other top officials of the party across the country.

A national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was represented by Senator Babafemi Ojudu.