Bankole Omishore, a media aide to Nigeria’s senate president, has stated that his comments about the interview granted to BBC Hausa Service by the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, are in no way a reflection of the views of his principal.
Omisore had tweeted on Friday, October 14, 2016 that Mrs. Buhari’s comment came “four months after Saraki alleged that there’s government within government of Buhari’s administration.”
Omisore stated that those who criticised his principal at the time he made the comments should understand that both the president’s wife and his principal meant well for the administration.
Said months apart but practically saying the same thing. @aishambuhari and @bukolasaraki both have the best interest of @MBuhari at heart pic.twitter.com/uhdL2OnMO1
— Banks Omishore (@MrBanksOmishore) October 14, 2016
“Aisha Buhari and Bukola Saraki both have the best interest of President Buhari at heart,” he said in the tweet.
The senate president’s media aide said: “It is true that I still believe that there’s a government within the government.
“I do believe that the President has good intentions and my boss is still behind him. But a situation where a few people are giving conflicting directives does not bode well for the image and the future of our country.
“A situation where people that work within the executive say one thing and other people that work in the same administration say and even do another thing, along with situation where people in government use the office and name of president to settle personal scores.
“It shows that clearly to say there is government within government is an understatement,” Omisore said, calling on Nigerians to pay attention to Mrs. Buhari’s statement because she is a mother for the whole country.
“Mrs. Buhari is our mother and she has come out to say that the way things are being run, where APC manifesto has been abandoned and the party completely left out of governance, should not continue for too long,” he stated.
In a brief statement to The Trent on Friday evening, Mr. Bankole clarified that his social media comments were his personal opinion and not those of his superior.
“My attention has been drawn to the erroneous and misleading attribution of my personal opinion, freely expressed on Mrs. Aisha Buhari’s interview with the BBC Hausa Service, to my principal and president of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki,” he wrote in an email to our editors.
“To set the record straight, I, as a Nigerian, am entitled to air my opinion on issues in the polity irrespective of my position as media aide to the Senate President.
“Please note that my opinion neither represent the official position of the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Dr. Bukola Saraki, nor my office as a media aide.
“On the recent interview the wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari, granted the BBC, what I said via my personal twitter handle was that the First Lady’s opinion tallies with the view my Principal expressed four months ago. That is my opinion and I stand by it,” he ended.
