Aisha Buhari thought to be behind Ahmad Lawan's decision to sack Festus Adebayo

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari's wife Aisha is believed to have been the main force behind the decision of new senate president Senator Ahmad Lawan's decision to withdraw the  appointment of his media aide Festus Adebayo.

Last week, Senator Lawan was elected as the senate president and this week, he began putting together his kitchen cabinet, naming Mr Adebayo as his special adviser on media and publicity. yesterday, however, the appointment was dramatically withdrawn after a raft of protests from members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who said Mr Adebayo was a critic of the Buhari administration.

yesterday, members of the APC Youth Forum staged a protest in Abuja, complaining that people who were not members of the party's campaign were being appointed into government positions. They accused Senator Lawan of rewarding President Buhari’s enemies, claiming that Mr Adebayo was a fierce critic of the administration and did not share its vision for how to take the country forward.

Abu Andrew, spokesman of the group, said: “No doubt, the appointments are a glaring reward for people who have not only insulted the person of President Muhammadu Buhari but also severally maligned the integrity of the office he occupies."

Hadjia Aisha Buhari, also tweeted a video of the group’s protest on her Twitter account, which contained the caption: “You cannot drive an agenda with people who don’t believe in that agenda. How will you achieve your purpose if you bring in people who fought against your agenda?"

Following the protests, Senator Lawan's spokesman Mohammed Isa, said: “The office of the president of the senate has reviewed the appointment of Mr Festus Adedayo as special adviser, media and publicity and decided to rescind its decision on the appointment. It wishes Mr Adebayo the best in his future endeavours.”

Mr Adebayo has since said that he will not stop being critical of the government despite the decision as he owes it to Nigerians to hold their leaders to account. In the past, Hadjia Buhari has been very critical of some of the people around her husband, saying many of them do not share his vision and agenda.