The official portrait for Her Excellency Aisha Buhari has been released hours after her husband was sworn-in as the new president on May 29, 2015, Friday.
The new photo has the national flag of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the background. It will be used for official purposes by the presidency and its office.
During the campaign period Muhammadu Buhari first addressed the issue of the Office of the First Lady in December 2014. He said it was “not mentioned in the Nigerian constitution, and there was no official role for presidents’ wives described in the main law of the country“.
Aisha Buhari reacted to this statement, saying that this fact would not prevent her from doing her work: participating in various charity activities, visiting orphanages, caring for society’s downtrodden and etc.
In a recent interview, after her husband’s victory at the presidential election, Aisha made an important remark about her status: “I think I will prefer to be called the wife of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria than the first lady of Nigeria”.
There is no clear answer at the moment on whether the Office of the First Lady would be set up or not. Therefore, the true significance of the photo remains unclear for many Nigerians: