Aisha Buhari's Interview: BBC Defies Pressure from Presidency, NASS

 

The Hausa Service of the BBC is defying presssure from the Presidency and National Assembly trying to stop it from airing the controversial interview the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, granted it.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari was reported to have moved to stop the publicity of the explosive interview after it emerged that hidden details about his current cabinet were revealed by his wife.

A source within the Abuja Bureau of the BBC told DailyTrust that there was a letter from the Presidency asking the Hausa service of the BBC not to air the interview.

The Speaker of the House of Representative, Yakubu Dogara, according to the source, also tried to informally dissuade the BBC from airing the interview.

A son of Buhari's powerful nephew, Mamman Daura, is also said to have called to get the BBC not to  use the interview.

Aisha Buhari expressed fear of rebellion from the fifteen million people who voted her husband who according to her is surrounded by 'strange people' forced on him by powerful forces in the country. Mrs. Buhari who has been reportedly banned from granting subsequent interviews admitted Nigerians who worked tirelessly for Buhari's victory have been abandoned.

However, the source told a correspondent, the BBC wouldn't backdown on its promise to air the interview as an independent media organisation.

The source said the only condition that can make the service not air the interview is for the interviewee, Aisha Buhari, to decide against it. Even in that case her voice recanting what she had said in the interview would be aired.

Therefore, a part of the  interview will be aired in the service's morning broadcast tomorrow - Friday. It will be aired in full on its programme, 'Gane Mini Hanya', on Saturday.