FAKE NEWS ALERT: Is this Amina Zakari doing 4+4 with Aisha Buhari?

January 05

13:50 2019

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You must have seen the trending picture — Aisha Buhari, wife of the president, showing off her tattoo and the 4+4 hand sign canvassing another four years for her husband in office. In one of the pictures are four persons all in the “4+4” mood with their hands raised and smiles etched on their faces.

This was at the inauguration of Women and Youth for 2019 Presidential Campaign Team at the state house, Abuja, on Thursday.

It all seemed like a jolly good game, at least for those in Buhari’s corner, until the picture started trending on social media.

The message was that one of the women in the picture was Amina Zakari, the commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who is currently at the centre of a controversy over her relationship with Buhari.

It is alleged that she is a niece of the president and her appointment as the chairman of the collation centre committee for the presidential election is an indication that INEC wants to rig the election in favour of Buhari.

IS IT AMINA ZAKARI OR SOMEONE ELSE?

L-R: Hadiza Dahiru Abba, Usman Halilu Ahmed, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari and… Amina Zakari? No, it’s Hajo Sani, PhD. PHOTO: SUNDAY AGHAEZE

Without much ado, the person in the picture is Hajo Sani, PhD, senior special assistant to the wife of the president on administration.

Sani is an educationist, author and policy analyst and was a minister of state for women affairs and social development from 1997 to 1998. She would later set up the Women and National Development (WAND), an NGO promoting education of the girl-child.

She was elected secretary-general of the West African Women Association (WAWA) in 2003. She joined the Society for Family Health (SFH) in 2003, the largest NGO focusing on public health issues in Nigeria since 2003.

This is not the first time she is getting sucked into negative news — her son took to Instagram a year ago to display exotic cars, and this was an item of internet storm for a while.

Sani is an ardent campaigner for Buhari’s re-election and currently supports the Dr. Hajo Sani Youth Network for Buhari Continuity.