24th May, 2023
By Ahmed Ubandoma
The wife of the outgoing President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has officially engaged wife of the President-elect, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, acquainting her with duties of the Office of First Lady of Nigeria.
Mrs Buhari, who received her successor on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, handed over some documents to Mrs Tinubu to serve as a guide towards piloting the affairs of the office.
She also handed over the seal of the African First Ladies Peace Mission to the incoming first lady, being the chief host of all the spouses of the African heads of state.
Mrs Buhari expressed confidence in the ability of the incoming first lady to deliver on the task ahead.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the event signalled the formal transition of official engagements in the office of the first lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“As you are all aware the role of the First Lady is unconstitutional, but we enjoy the goodwill of the citizens in order to carry out some basic things, like humanitarian activities.
“We partner with a lot of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in order to help our citizens, and I have enjoyed that goodwill for the last eight years.
“So, I have prepared a handover, just to guide you, and see the NGOs that we have worked with,” Mrs Buhari said.
Responding, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu appreciated the outgoing first lady for exhibiting a high sense of leadership and dexterity in handling the affairs of her office.
“We are very humbled by what you have done, you have exhibited great leadership and dexterity in the way you do things.
“I want to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart because you don’t come into this role and say you know it all.
“I know I served many years ago as Governor’s wife for eight years, but now things have changed and are being done differently. I have been in the legislative arm for 12 years now.
“We promise you that you will be proud of the work we will do,” she said.
In the same vein, Mrs Buhari also received in audience the Association of Spouses of Nigerian Ambassadors (ASNA) led by the wife of Nigerian Ambassador to Burundi, Mrs Udo Onyeagba, who were at the State House to express their support to the first lady.