Mixed reactions trail First Lady’s Iftar invitation to presidential aspirants, as she instruct them not to come with phones

The First Lady, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday extended an invitation to host all Presidential aspirants of various political parties tomorrow at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, for the break of Ramadan fast dinner (Iftar). It was gathered that the invited personalities were instructed to drop their mobile devices at home and only carry their invitation cards, which would serve as the only entry permit for the event. So far, those who have indicated interest to contest the Presidential election include Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi and former Presidents of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim and Bukola Saraki respectively. Others are the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello and that of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; that of Sokoto and Bauchi states, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed respectively. However, it was gathered that the directive to them not to approach the venue with phones would not apply to Osinbajo and other governors and ministers, who are expected to be at the meeting. Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Wife of the President, Aliyu Abdullahi, who confirmed the development, said: “There is no issue here. This is a standard operational protocol in the Villa when you are having either of the three occupants of the Presidency in attendance. If they are coming for an event, this is supposed to be DSS-enforced. Some critical stakeholders and opinion moulders, yesterday, shared divergent views over the invitation. While some view the development as strange and unwarranted, wondering in what capacity the President’s wife is meeting with aspirants, others said the woman has demonstrated a kind of maturity and understanding, which her husband lacks and had failed to show in the last seven years.