Ex-First Ladies Spent £32,000 as Landing Fees for Private Jets
Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the wife of the President Muhammadu Buhari, has reiterated her earlier stance on an insinuated charge of fleecing that ‘bleeds Nigeria high’ when she makes foreign trips, by an online news site said.
Mrs Buhari through her Special Assistant on Media, Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi on Sunday explained that £32,000 was spent in the past by the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom as landing fees for private jets of former First Ladies and that the money spent on the lounge when she visited the UK was a far cry from what was obtainable during the past administrations.
He said the continuous publication of what she called unfounded stories by the news portal (Sahara Reporters) against her was becoming a source of great concern, claiming that the published memo was not linked to her.
The statement read, “The High Commission has its internal administrative procedure, and it is not within the purview of the wife of the President to ask for diplomatic files.
“Furthermore, that the said memo showed little or no knowledge of Her Excellency’s itinerary proves the simple fact we earlier submitted that she had no direct business with the embassy to warrant the accusation of waste or corruption insinuated in the report.
“Part of the wife of the President’s trips abroad are for her NGO, which is not funded by the government, and it is not uncommon to have stopover in Britain like any other country as the case may be.
“According to her, VIP treatment is simple protocol for a personality of her status, which is done all over the world, and at no point was she offered anywhere else.
“The High Commission provided the lounge and Hajiya Buhari was not involved in the transaction.
“This is even a far cry from the £32,000 expended in the past as landing fees for private jets of former first ladies.”
She once again called on the news portal to make through investigations on the published story.
