TheCable

Adamu Bulkachuwa, who represented Bauchi north in the senate, says he never influenced the decisions of Zainab Bulkachuwa, his wife and former president of the court of appeal. 

Speaking at the senate valedictory session, the former senator said he often “encroached on” his wife’s space while she was in office.

But Ahmad Lawan, the former senate president who presided over the session, interrupted the senator before he spoke any further.

“Distinguished, I don’t think this is a good idea going in this direction,” Lawan had said.

Bulkachuwa’s comments sparked outrage, with many Nigerians calling for investigations into his claim.

Speaking with BBC Hausa, the former senator said Lawan did not allow him to finish his thoughts.

He said the help he spoke about was not in a negative sense.

“The way we live with her, I never told her how you should do it, how you should do your case, or how you should do it with your office. We don’t talk about this even at home,” he said.

“I was not even allowed to finish, I just started with some words like thanking her, she was patient with me, I am in politics and she is in law.

“Then the help that I told her to do, this is her nature, her behaviour, I didn’t even wait to say what kind of help, there are more than a hundred kinds of help, which every employee, whether legal, whether he is a doctor or an engineer, anyone can help in his work.

“Help does not mean that you break the law or do something wrong.”