As Kebbi State governor Atiku Bagudu battles the myriad of problems in the state, he might have to contend with another which is personal, 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 is 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 mallams and locals in the state.
A source in the governor’s office reported that after the swearing-in of the governor, he instructed that the letter heading for the office of the first lady should be printed for Zainab.
“But after the governor travelled to Abuja and returned, he changed 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. (TBW).