As Kebbi State governor Atiku Bagudu battles the myriad of problems in the state, he might have to contend with another at home as his two wives are fighting one another to occupy the office of the governor’s wife.
He has been in office for less than 100 days but the office of the first lady is still vacant, as each of the two wives are claiming to be the legal occupant of the controversial office.
Hajia Aisha Bagudu and Dr. Zainab Bagudu, are both using the logo and letter headed paper of the Kebbi State office of the First Lady with their official cars carrying the insignia of the wife of the governor of Kebbi state also.
The inability of the governor to choose who will occupy the position among his two wives appears to be affecting the operations of the office of the First Lady in the state.
Dr Zainab Bagudu accompanied the governor during his pre-election campaign tours. Sources said the governor had earlier planned to appoint Zainab as the first lady considering her contributions to his campaign but was at a crossroad after the visible closeness of Hajia Aisha Bagudu to women at the grassroots came to light, especially her robust relationships with the mall ams and locals in the state.
A source in the governor’s office told Per Second News that after the swearing -in of the governor, he instructed that the letter headed paper for the office of the first lady should be printed for Zainab.
“But after His Excellency travelled to Abuja and returned, he change his mind and directed that the letter headed paper for the office of the first lady should be printed for his two wives and the decision is now generating tension in the family.”
The situation is getting messier by the day as an instruction last month to the duo to proceed to the government house and choose their accommodation wing degenerated into a fisticuff between Zainab and Aisha.
A source who was present when the physical fight started said that it took the timely intervention of security aides to restrain the warring governor’s wives.
Per Second News reliably gathered that the governor was livid after he was briefed about the incident swearing not to move to the government house again.
The governor now operates mostly from his house, according to Per Second Newsfindings.
Some top government functionaries that commented on the first lady crisis advised the governor to appoint the wife of the deputy governor as the first lady, since he is afraid to offend his wives by appointing one of them as the first lady.
They maintained that the crisis was affecting the image of the government and that the state would not participate at the meeting of governors’ wives forum because of the crisis.
They fear that the issue could affect Kebbi State’s meagre funds. “With two first ladies in the state, it is clear that the funds of Kebbi meant for development will be used for sponsoring the activities of the two wives. Each of the wives has aides attached to her and this will cost the state a lot of money as allowances to the aides.”
Already the Kebbi first lady tussle has started raising dusts. Women groups are sharply divided and have arrayed themselves in different camps with each group struggling to outwit the other.
Some unanswered questions raised by the issue include: Who among the two wives will be a member of the governors’ wives’ forum?
Concerned Kebbi State women are appealing to the governor to resolve the crisis on time, in order to enable women groups in the state to operate under one umbrella with only one leader as the first lady of the state.
According to a respectable mall am in the state, “ Hajia Aisha is the first wife, she struggled with the governor when there was nothing, she has always been in the fore front of her husband’s campaign to the senate, not minding her limited educational background.”
“ She is familiar with the terrain in Kebbi and the locals feel at home with her, so there’s no way she won’t play the role of first lady in the state”.
Meanwhile, Per Second News gathered that Dr Zainab Bagudu relates more with the affluent women in the state. She is based in Abuja, where she owns a diagnostic center, she is believed to be a pediatric doctor.
Dr Zainab Bagudu, represented the state during the Ramadan dinner last month hosted by the first lady, Aisha Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Last week, a group known as Women Coalition Group (WCG) in Kebbi, appealed to the Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, not to scrap office of the first lady in spite of the feud over the office among his wives.
Hajiya Fatima Mustapha, who is the state chairperson of the association, made the appeal in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, according to her, the office of the first Lady during democratic regime is important as it caters for the women and children in society.
“As a woman, I am duty bound to make a plea on behalf of all women in the state to beg the governor not to abolish this good office because it empowers the women folk and assist the children especially the less privileged ones”, she said.
“What Governor Bagudu needs to do is to sit with his wives and resolve the issue amicably for the interest of Kebbi women. I also appeal to wives of the governor to sheath their swords on the ongoing saga over the first lady slot”, Hajiya Mustapha concluded.
It appears that the twosome will be performing the role jointly as Dr Zainab will be assigned to duties in Abuja, while Hajia Aisha will be in the state, according to a top aide of the governor.
–Per Second News
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