Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has invited all presidential aspirants from various political parties to converge on the State House Conference Centre at 06:30 pm on Saturday, April 23, 2022, for a Ramadan Iftar dinner.
Among those running for president are former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu; former vice president, Atiku Abubakar; former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi; vice president, Yemi Osinbajo; former senate president, Anyim Pius Anyim, among others.
The First Lady in an invitation letter to the aspirants, instructed them not to come along with their mobile devices, except for their invitation cards which would serve as their entry pass.
“Please, bring this card with you. Phones are not allowed,” the invite stated.
However, in a phone interview with PUNCH, the spokesperson of the First Lady, Aliyu Abdullahi, who confirmed the meeting said the directive doesn’t apply to the vice president and governors.
“There is nothing here. This is a standard operational protocol in the Villa when you are having a meeting with either of the three occupants of the Presidency, he said.
“If they are coming for an event, this is supposed to be DSS enforced when the president is having an event or the Vice President is having an event or the first lady is having an event. Because outsiders will come. That’s the security and standard protocol.
“That does not apply to the Vice President. How can you expect that to apply to the Vice President or even to ministers?”