FLASH | Photos of Aisha Buhari, Daughters Inside #UNGA71 Cause Social Media Stir

A photo of the wife of the President of Nigeria, Mrs. Aisha Buhari and two other ladies identified as daughters of President Buhari inside the chambers of the ongoing 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York surfaced in the Nigerian social media on Tuesday raising a series of questions about the purpose of the United Nations General Assembly.

The photograph which was shared via the Twitter handle; @LetsCheckThat has got some Nigerians wondering why such a serious policy-making organ of the United Nations is being reduced to a gallery for first family selfies.

Pls can someone explain why we have children of NGR pres. sitting at the UNGA? @MrAyeDee @MrFixNigeria @Oddy4real pic.twitter.com/uMDTYuyPGo

— Do u solemnly swear? (@LetsCheckThat) September 20, 2016

“Outside the President, every other person here is spectator, except if you have a side event”, Kelechi Mbiamnozie, tweeted via his handle @kmbiamnozie in reaction to the development.

Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 193 Members of the United Nations, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. Also, the Assembly considers current issues of critical importance to the international community in the form of high-level thematic debates organized by the President of the General Assembly in consultation with the membership.

The incident comes just as Nigerian online news medium, SaharaReporters disclosed on Monday in a tweet that while Nigeria was battling economic recession, Buhari’s delegation to UNGA comprised a Presidential Advance Team of 16, 14 Presidential Aides, Ministers and Aides 32 as well as Foreign Affairs and other MDAs 24.

SaharaReporters also disclosed that Aisha Buhari was separately attending UNGA with 22 persons including wives of governors.

Prior to Buhari’s trip to New York for UNGA, a statement from the Nigerian presidency disclosed that the president would also use the opportunity to scout for investors to invest in Nigeria’s critical sectors.

Political analysts however insist that the continued flamboyant spending of the Nigerian government under Buhari sends across the image of a nation that is not in any serious financial or economic crisis.