As an alleged relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Mrs Amina Zakari continues to spark a row, the duos are standing on different pages in defending the allegation.
Zakari who is a national Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was appointed a Chairperson of the INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential Election Collation Centre Committee, while Buhari is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Since the appointment of Zakari Thursday last week, the political space in the country does not know peace as it is alleged that she is a niece to Buhari and that she could manipulate the election results to favour the president.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the Inter-Party Advisory Council and several political parties had variously called on INEC to rescind the appointment of Zakari as the chairperson of the Committee on National Collation Centre.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC National Chairman dismissed the insinuation as false and submitted that Zakari comes from Jigawa State while Buhari hails from Katsina State.
To douse the fire of the allegation, President Buhari has admitted of an inter-marriage relationship with Zakari.
However, Zakari reacted “I’m not his niece, I am not his cousin; and, on this job, I was appointed since 2010 by President Jonathan and prior to that, I was appointed as SA to President Obasanjo and I have done my work conscientiously over the years as a patriotic citizen of Nigeria.
In an interview with the BBC, however, Zakari, who was a former acting Chairman of INEC, said she had also served as a special adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
She further stated that she was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan as an INEC commissioner and that she had done her job diligently in the last eight years.
“I don’t think I should be distracted now that elections are coming. I will continue doing my work. I will continue to serve my country to the best of my ability, with the best of intentions.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is my president as everybody else’s president.
“He is not my cousin, he is not my uncle as is being claimed; but I know him as my leader and the leader of the nation,” Zakari noted.
But, Femi Fani-Kayode who is a former Minister of Aviation tweeted on Sunday, “Amina Zakari told @BBCWorld that she is not @MBuhari’s neice. That is a lie from the pit of hell.
“She is a rogue and a fraud. She is a danger to national security and our unity. Just like she helped Buhari pillage PTF, she wants to help him to rig and steal the coming election.”
