Mrs Aisha Buhari
A former Gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress in Ebonyi state, Chief(Dr.) Obasi Akpa Obasi says he thinks the wife of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari will not vote for her husband. This he says is because of how the former head of state sees women.
Obasi, whose position was published on Vanguard’s Viewpoint section noted that “President Jonathan has been campaigning and everybody sees his wife by his side. If I may ask, where was Mrs. Buhari until recently presented for political purposes?” he asked.
“Is she wrapped up in seclusion somewhere? Does her complete isolation from the public personae and campaigns of her husband not indicate that he still does not think that women have a role to play in government even if if is ceremonial?”
Obasi dismissed sentiments that it is “unislamic to honour your wife with a visible place by your side,” citing Indonesia who elected a woman to head their government in the person of Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Pakistan, who elected the late Benazir Bhutto.
“I deliberately cited Indonesia and Pakistan because they are the largest and second largest Muslim nations in the world with deep Islamic traditions that date back to centuries. If these nations can entrust women with political power at the highest levels, why should Buhari tend to put women in the background?”
“I dare say that it has not escaped the attention of Mrs. Buhari that President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed more women into his cabinet and into other high positions than any other government before his.
“Again, I suspect that Mrs. Buhari is not unaware of the respect and recognition which the President accords his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan.
“Seeing how a secure man treats his wife and seeing how she has been relegated not just to the background, but to obscurity, I have a strong feeling that Mrs. Buhari will not vote for her husband,” Obasi said.
The former governorship aspirant based his assertions on Buhari’s antecedents. According to him, the APC presidential candidate had an all male cabinet when he was head of state, despite having good examples of women who were changing their societies such as Margaret Thatcher of The United Kingdom and the phenomenal Indira Gandhi of India. He stressed that all the ministers and advisers, Military Governors and the ambassadors Buhari appointed were men.
“And to rub salt to injury, Buhari is promising to close down the office of the First Lady if he is elected! In the year 2015! Are we moving forward or backward?” he asked.