All the Presidential aspirants in the country and within the different political parties are expected to show up for a Ramadan dinner with the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, on Saturday, April 23.
But, the caveat is that the invitation card for the event that was in circulation on Thursday, advised those participating not to come along with their mobile devices, stating that their invitation cards will serve as their entry pass.
The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has invited presidential aspirants to an Iftar dinner at the Presidential Villa on Saturday. The invitation, which was extended to all presidential hopefuls across political parties, is expected to have the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and seventeen other aspirants from the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) including Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike; former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar and others in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) grace the occasion. However, the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the First Lady, Aliyu Abdullah, clarified that it is standard protocol for guests at events in the President Villa, to be requested not to go in with phones.
Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who without his base Buhari may never have won the presidency, would also have to appear at the dinner venue with his invitation card, and without a phone on him.
The development has set tongues wagging as to why some of these political heavyweights in their own rights would be denied the luxury of going to the Villa without 4heir phones, a development, some observers say could be waved since it’s a social gathering.
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However, should any of the aspirants, particularly, within the ruling party, like Vice president Yemi Osinbajo and Tinubu choose not to attend the dinner, they may fear that it could undermine their chances since Aisha’s husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, has the ace vote on who becomes the APC presidential candidate.
It was not clear whether the likes of Wike or Obi and others from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would honour the invite as mssing the dinner won’t have any significant bearing on their chances of clinching the presidential ticket of their party.
Meanwhile, it was not also clear the motive of the dinnerwith the First Lady who lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates