The Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum has denied travelling to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates to surprise Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, on the occasion of her birthday on February 17, 2022.

A video of the governors’ wives presenting a birthday cake to Aisha Buhari had gone viral on social media attracting wide condemnations from Nigerians.

In the clip, Bisi Fayemi, the wife of the Ekiti State Governor and NGF Chairman, Kayode Fayemi, was seen holding a cake while leading the other women who presented the cake to Aisha during her 51st birthday in Dubai.

However, the Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum, while reacting to the development via a statement made available to The Star on Wednesday, said the governors’ wives did not leave Nigeria for the sole purpose of celebrating the First Lady’s birthday.

The Forum, in a statement signed by its chairman, Bisi Fayemi, said the governors’ wives “were on the entourage of the First Lady of Nigeria who was on an official trip to the UAE”.

Fayemi noted that the trip included visits to Dubai Expo 2020, and tours of the Dubai e-learning center, Dubai Youth Hub and meetings with foundations and agencies in UAE who are interested in investing in education, health and technology in Africa, with priority given to women and young people.

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She added: “The trip coincided with the birthday of HE Aisha Buhari. On the morning of her birthday, which was February 17th, the delegation of Governors’ Wives paid a private visit to present a cake and flowers. After the brief presentation, we proceeded to attend the scheduled meetings for the day.

“We were therefore dismayed to see footage of the visit interpreted to mean Governors’ Wives left Nigeria for the sole purpose of celebrating HE’s birthday.

“This is not true and we find this assumption scandalous. We are all dedicated to supporting our spouses as well as our First Lady, and we would never be a party to anything that will bring embarrassment to them and ourselves.

“Our key learnings from our visit to the various agencies in Dubai and the briefings we received points to the need for Nigeria to scale up investments in education, science and technology and provide more opportunities for young people, who are the key to the future,” the statement read.

The Star