An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, has come to the defence of INEC National Commissioner, Amina Zakari, stating that she and the President aren’t related by blood.
This comes hot on the heels of her appointment as head the INEC committee on collation centre which brought about a lot of controversy.
Opposition party, PDP, were quick to release a statement accusing Buhari of nepotism and that her appointment could be a problem during the elections.
The Presidency, through Garba Shehu, was quick to counter this stating that the relationship between President Buhari and Zakari isn’t a blood one as they are only vaguely linked by marriage.
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“President Buhari and Commissioner Amina Zakari don’t share a family relationship. An inter-marriage occurred in their extended families, so the imputation of blood relationship between the President and the electoral commissioner is a simple lie,” he said.
“In their desperation, they forget that it was the PDP government that appointed her in the first place and they keep lying, as they have been caught doing on so many issues, by imputing a blood relationship between her and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“What is even more curious about all the fuss coming from the PDP is that they, as a ruling party picked Mrs Zakari, judging her by her own merit and made her an electoral commissioner.
“She served so well with distinction as can be verified from the records that President Buhari approved the recommendation that she be reappointed, as he did other PDP nominees for second-term of four years.”
Shehu then warned the PDP to back off from Zakari unless there was a hidden agenda or narrative that the opposing party is seeking to push.
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