Lagos, Abuja – Aisha Alhassan, Minister of Women Affairs, on Thursday, reaffirmed her support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari is not a naïve politician to take any decision he deems necessary concerning her.
She also said she will not have any remorse even if President Buhari relieves her of her job in his cabinet.
She said this amidst criticisms trailing her comments on social media, saying she bared her mind fully in the interview with the BBC Hausa service and anyone interested should consult the media platform and get her position.
Alhassan, a frontline female politician from Taraba State, was captured in a video during an interview with BBC Hausa as saying she would support Atiku even if President Muhammadu Buhari decides to re-contest the 2019 election.
She was spotted at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, when she came to see the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, apparently on the same issue surrounding her comments.
It was not clear whether she was invited by the presidency or she came on her own volition.
When State House correspondents engaged her in discussions she appeared calm and calculated without any remorse whatsoever.
The following interaction ensued between her and journalists.
Reporters: Your remarks have unsettled the polity, what more can you say?
Alhassan: No, I have no comment. What will I say now, I have said all in BBC Hausa, get someone who speaks Hausa very well to translate it for you.
Reporters: Do you see your relationship with President Buhari as strained following your interview with BBC Hausa?
Alhassan: How will I know? I have not seen the president but I don’t think the president is a naive person.
Reporters: Aren’t you afraid of losing your job?
Alhassan: God gives and God takes. That is all and I have said it all in Hausa. You know that there is an end to everything.
Reporters: Buhari’s supporters have been attacking you on social media, saying you are not loyal?
Alhassan: Let the will of God be.
In the interview she earlier granted the BBC Hausa, she said moles within the presidency have been calling for her sack as minister.
The interview which went viral on Thursday went as follows:
BBC: Your Excellency, you said you hope former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, become the president of Nigeria in 2019, why did you make this statement?
Alhassan: Atiku is my godfather even before I joined politics, and again Baba Buhari did not tell us that he is going to run in 2019. And let me tell you today that if Baba said he is going to contest in 2019, I swear to Allah I will go before him and kneel and tell him that ‘Baba I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve your government as a minister. But Baba just like you know I will support only Atiku because he is my godfather.’ (That is) if Atiku said he is going to contest; as we are talking now Atiku has not said he is going to contest. Why I said our president in 2019 is because we all hope he is going to contest, but he never told us that he is going to contest. But if he said he is going to contest I will surely do what I told you I will do. Because if Atiku said he is going to contest and I remain in the cabinet of Baba while Baba also wants to contest, then I have become a hypocrite and I am not one.
If I said I am not with Atiku, Buhari himself will not trust me at all because he will say I am a hypocrite.
BBC: Is it not early to start campaigning?
Alhassan: Yes I made this statement when we went for a courtesy call during Sallah festivities, I am not going to stand before him and campaign, besides this is not the time for campaign. Even when my people asked me to come out and start campaigning, I told them this is not the time for that. This is the time to work for the people.
This is the work of my political enemies, they have been going round saying I should be sacked as minister. I never hoped to be a minister, Allah gave it to me if I get sacked, it will not bother me because I believe in Allah, that my time has elapsed; because I believe only Allah do and undo. And you think Baba is a mad man like those calling for my sack?
They have been sending it and spreading that if Baba sees this I will be sacked. He will not sack me from being a minister because of this, only if I commit another offence. I am doing my job as a minister with all my heart and I always protect this government because it is a government of APC. And Baba our president, the president of Nigeria and somebody that I respect even before I joined politics. I will continue to respect him as a man of integrity. For those who are saying I will be sacked, they will be shamed. And even if I am sacked, I believe it is my time as minister that has ended. I never asked for it, Allah gave it to me.
Alhassan came into limelight when she contested the Taraba State gubernatorial election and lost to Darius Ishaku.
As a way of compensation, the Buhari administration brought her on board the federal cabinet saddling her with the responsibility of overseeing the Women Affairs Ministry.
She had been instrumental of late to the welfare and re-integration of all the Chibok girls whose release was secured from the Boko Haram sect in Borno State, North East Nigeria.
I’m Surprised Alhassan Is Still In Buhari’s Govt – Sagay
Meanwhile, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) on Thursday said he is surprised that President Muhammadu Buhari has not taken any action against Aisha Alhassan, Minister of Women Affairs, over her statement that she will quit the cabinet should the president decide to seek re-election.
The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) said the minister’s statement painted the picture of the Buhari administration as being a weak government.
Sagay said Alhassan’s continued stay hours after making the statement is disrupting the activities of government.
“She should not be part of the government anymore. I’m surprised that 24 hours after she made the statement she is still in this government. She should have been sacked immediately”, he said.
“Her presence now is disrupting the activities of this government and will give the picture of the Buhari government as being a weak government that cannot protect its own interests.
“The woman should have been shown the way out one minute after making the statement. I’m embarrassed that no action has been taken on her so far”, he said.
However, a former Minister of Information, Tony Momoh, said the minister did nothing wrong by exercising her freedom of expression.
According to Momoh, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), “Those who are saying her statement is an act of disloyalty are wrong. We are in a democratic government and not a dictatorial one. People should be free to air their opinions without fear.
“As far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong in what she said. She said Atiku is her godfather and she will support him in 2019 if he decides to contest. What is wrong in that?” Momoh asked.
Senate Says Sagay Is Outdated Prof Of Law, Asks Buhari To Cage Him
The cold war between the Senate and Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Action Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), was reignited on Thursday when the Senate described him in negatives over his recent vituperation against the parliament.
Sagay had at a forum in Lagos faulted the take home pay of the lawmakers just as he faulted them over some of the Bills they passed, saying they are never in the interest of the populace.
The Senate in a statement signed by its spokesman, Sabi Abdullahi, said the Professor of Law was only “spreading falsehood and making hate speeches against the National Assembly.”
The Senate in picking holes in the comments made by the law professor on the emoluments of the lawmakers described him as a “a senile, jaded, rustic and outdated Professor of Law”.
“Sagay was fond of using every opportunity he has to make public speeches to disparage the federal legislature by using uncouth and unprintable words to describe the legislators and the institution they represent”, the parliament said.
The upper legislative chamber noted that Sagay has been one of the few divisive elements in the Buhari administration who believe their relevance is enhanced only when they create constant tension between the legislature and the executive while also setting members of the executives against each other.
Abdullahi noted that while the legislators had ignored past statements made by the Professor of Law, his recent speech at a public lecture in Lagos organised by the Society of International Law where “he gave false details about the salary and allowances of the legislators and the various bills passed bordered on inciting members of the public against the legislators and deliberately circulating hate speech; which the government is working hard to contain” is unacceptable.
The statement reads in part, “Ordinarily, we would ignore Sagay whose statements and attitude present him like a rascal and sadist instead of a former university teacher.
“However, his last speech in Lagos during which he was reeling out false and exaggerated figures about the salaries and allowances of legislators and also lied about the passage of anti-corruption bills showed that he just deliberately set out to undermine the legislative institution and lower its reputation in the estimation of right thinking members of the society and we therefore believe we should put him in his rightful place.
“As an academic whose creed should be to find facts and make comments based on truth, we believe that Sagay should stop spreading beer parlour rumours about the salaries and allowances of legislators when he could simply get the facts from the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) which is the body constitutionally charged with the responsibility of fixing salaries and allowances of all public officials.
“Let us make it clear that our salaries and allowances are open books and the details can be taken from the RMFAC by any interested party.
“Prof. Sagay at his lecture in Lagos also made comparisons which did little credit to his background as a lecturer as he was talking of the salary of the United States President and that of a Nigerian legislator.
“That is like comparing oranges with apples. Only a senile, jaded, rustic and outdated Professor of Law like Sagay will make such a comparison which falls flat on its face, even to an ordinary lay man. Surely, Sagay is basing his analysis on street talks.
“Sagay could not even check the records before proclaiming that ‘the National Assembly has not passed a single bill for the promotion of anti-corruption war since it commenced business in July 2015′.
“First, the 8th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 9, 2015 not July. Also, it is on record that the Senate has passed the Whistle Blowers’ Protection Bill, Witness Protection Bill, Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency Bill.
“This man talks like a man who is constantly under the influence of some substance and perhaps possessed as he employs the language of a tout with no civility.
“He is probably constantly excited and incensed by the fact of having his first opportunity to find himself in the corridors of power.
“He pontificates and talks as if the war against corruption of the Buhari administration depends solely on him to survive. He once publicly attacked the Attorney General of the Federation and accused him of not doing enough to prosecute the war. In the Lagos speech, he took a blanket swipe at the judiciary and rubbished that entire institution which he as a lawyer has the professional, ethical and constitutional duty to respect.
“This is a man who cannot stand for councillorship election and win. We challenge him to state what his contributions are in the election of our amiable President Muhammadu Buhari and what new ideas he has contributed to making the fight against corruption more effective since his appointment.
“With an easily excited man like him as head of an advisory body, the nation has continued to lose anti-corruption cases in courts due to the failure of his advice. He needs to do more work and talk less because media prosecution cannot win the war on corruption”.
The Senate, therefore, called on the president to caution Prof Sagay and stop him from further creating needless tension in the relationship between the executive and the legislature.
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