COVID-19: Scandal, Confusion Trail Aisha Buhari Foundation Over Palliatives

• Alleged beneficiaries kick

BY AHMED TUKUR, LAFIA – Stinging smell of scandals is all over the Aisha Muhammadu Buhari’s pet project “Future Assured” following missing palliative items donated by the Foundation to some prominent individuals in the nation’s Hausa Movie industry.

The alleged missing palliatives, captured in the Foundation’s profile as assistance to individuals and organizations, are currently creating huge integrity challenge for admirers of the first family, with some feeling bad their names were used to fill in the gap for ulterior motives.

Trouble started when some beneficiaries, whose names and phone numbers were listed, denied knowledge of the palliatives nor collecting the items reportedly shared in Kano about two weeks ago.

And there are now fears that coming shortly after the destruction and looting spree by hoodlums that set the country years back, the alleged missing palliatives could set the stage for another round of crisis if the problem is not properly managed.

Documents available to Forefront listed individuals like Masura Isa wife of the Hausa movie star, Sani Danja; Saratu Gidado; Baba Mai Keke; and Magaji Mijin Yawa among others as beneficiaries of the Foundation’s kind gesture.

However, Mijin Yawa disclosed that his share of the palliatives has not been delivered to him 20 days after receiving a call from a member of the foundation to that effect.

He told Forefront; “I was called by one Alhaji Garba that the First Lady, Aisha Buhari has penciled my name for thirty bags of rice; 30 jerry cans of palm oil; and 30 cartons of tomatoes.

“But twenty minutes later, he called back and said it was a mistake; that the palliatives were not for me, but he will send one item each, instead of the initial 30 he mentioned”.

When contacted, Alhaji Garba Mohammed confirmed Mijin Yawa,s claims, but explained that the items were not meant for Yawa but for Bello Muhammaed Bello,
another Hausa movie artist based in Jos, the Plateau state capital.

However, the matter still remains unresolved with Bello denying that he never received any palliative from the said Alhaji Garba or from any representative of the Aisha Buhari Foundation.

“I am yet to receive any message of palliatives from Aisha Buhari as I am taking to you”, Bello told Forefront