The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has faulted the genuineness of the recent United States trip embarked upon by Aisha Buhari, the President’s wife.
The party said that there is no proof that Mrs. Buhari was indeed at the George Mason University or the US Institute of Peace – the two institutions she supposedly visited.
The President’s wife had travelled to the US last week where she was invited as a guest speaker at events in Washington DC.
The US trip apparently proved allegations against her by Governor Ayodele Fayose wrong. The Governor had claimed that she was evading arrest in the country over her involvement in the Halliburton fraud.
“I challenge the president’s wife to visit the United States of America to convince Nigerians that she was not the Aisha Buhari mentioned in the judgment convicting William Jefferson,” Fayose had said.
“It is on record that the president has visited USA three times and his wife did not travel with him. Equally, she ought to have visited USA last year September to chair a United Nations programme but she sent wife of the Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki to represent her.”
However, in a bid to backing Fayose’s claim, the state PDP in a statement issued by its publicity secretary, Jackson Adebayo, insinuating that Aisha Buhari might travelled to Qatar instead.
“Even the presidency has not told anyone that wife of the president travelled to the USA and in official communications, only ignorant and mischief makers in the APC will believe that a trip to the USA will be made by Mrs Buhari and Nigerians will only get to know about it through online media,” the statement read.
“It is only in the world of the APC that wife of the president of Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world, would travel to the USA, ostensibly to debunk her involvement in a major scam and no television station will report her departure and arrival. The question is, did she travel to USA or Qatar?
“If the presidency has not been bold enough to tell Nigerians that Mrs Aisha Buhari travelled to the USA on official visit, only a party of scammers like the APC will go on the rooftops to celebrate photoshoped pictures as evidence of visit to USA.
“It is strange that wife of the president of Nigeria could travel to the USA and purportedly attended events there without international television stations like CNN, Al jazeera, BBC, Sky News etc and local stations like Channels TV, NTA, AIT and others reporting it. Or are they still ‘editing’ the video clips?”
On the other hand, the party insisted that even if the First Lady indeed travelled to the US, it does not change the ‘fact’ that she was mentioned in the fraud case.
The party said: “Even if Mrs Aisha Buhari actually travelled to the USA, does that erase the fact that in the judgment delivered by the United State District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, USA, in criminal No 1: 07 CR209, that indicted the USA Congressman, Williams Jefferson, it was mentioned that $170,000 was transferred from account in Nigeria in the name of Aisha Buhari to an account in the name of The ANJ Group, LLC, identifying William Jefferson as beneficiary?
“As a party of responsible and discerning minds, PDP in Ekiti State would have elected to ignore the APC and allow the party the freedom to advertise its idiocy. This is more so that the matter is now a subject of litigation and no one has denied the existence of the judgment that indicted Williams Jefferson and featured conspicuously at page 22, the name of Aisha Buhari as having transferred $170,000 from account in Nigeria to William Jefferson.
“Most importantly, Nigerians have witnessed more heinous forgeries from the APC, one of them being pictorial claim that President Buhari (as APC presidential candidate then) had an interview with Kemi Fadojutimi on ‘All Eyes on Africa’ TV show in London, whereas the interview was held in Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
“However, it is important to point out that from all evidences, the pictures circulated as arrival of President Buhari’s wife at Dulles International Airport, Washington DC could have been taken at the Doha International Airport, Qatar. Even on the official website of George Mason University and US Institute of Peace, USA where the president’s was said to have attended events, there is nothing to show that she attended any event in the two institutions.”
According to the party, it has “seen pictures of Wife of the Senate President, Toyin Saraki with President Barrack Obama’s wife, Michelle” and “pictures of Mrs Patience Jonathan with Michelle Obama when she visited the USA.
“Where are Aisha Buhari’s pictures with the First Lady of USA and major government officials from the country? Or could she have arrived and departed from the USA like a spirit? It is even more important that nothing official has been said about the purported trip. Not from the President’s spokespersons.”
Mrs Buhari was said to have departed the US today, Monday, August 8, to London for other engagements.
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