First Lady Denies Scheming Aisha Buhari out of AFLPM Leadership

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has denied plans to rig out the in-coming First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari from the leadership of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission.

Jonathan was reacting to reports that her decision to host the 8th Summit of the AFLPM, in Abuja, on Friday, was a grand design to stop Hajiya Aisha from succeeding her as President of the Mission.

Her statement read in part: “It would be recalled that Nigeria’s Hajia Turai Yar’Adua was elected President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission during the 6th Summit in February 2008, in Congo Brazzaville, for a term of two years. Her tenure ought to have come to an end in 2010 when she should have organised a summit to elect a successor and hand over accordingly.
The unfortunate incident that led to her sudden exit from office is well known and need not be mentioned here.
“This inability of the former President to officially hand over created a leadership vacuum in the African First Ladies Peace Mission for some time until Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan was prevailed upon by her colleagues, the African First Ladies to convene the Summit in July 2012 at which she was subsequently elected her to serve for two years.
“For the avoidance of doubt, according to its internal regulation, the tenure of office of President of African First Ladies Peace Mission is for a period of two years only. This therefore implies that the tenure of office of the incumbent President ought to have ended in 2014, when a fresh election should have held for a new executive council.
“This emergency summit, therefore, is to forestall a misunderstanding that Nigeria intentionally desires to remain in office as President, having held the position for the past seven years, instead of the two year tenure assigned to each country in the internal regulations of the Peace Mission.”