For inexplicable reasons, the Nigerian
embassy in Saudi Arabia this week side-stepped protocol by giving preference to
former Vice President Namadi Sambo and his entourage of 15 family members over
that of President Muhammadu Buhari when both arrived for the lesser Hajj
(Umrah) in Saudi Arabia.
The Umrah is performed by Muslims from all
over the world who converge on the holy city of Mecca to observe the ritual,
which can be undertaken at any time of the year but mostly observed during
Ramadan.
The pilgrims perform a series of worship
activities symbolising the lives of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and his second wife,
Hajara.
LEADERSHIP gathered that both families
arrived in Saudi Arabia this week for Umrah and while Aisha Buhari and her five
children were allotted two-bedroom accommodation, the former vice president was
allotted an eight-room apartment.
LEADERSHIP also learnt that while not a
single protocol officer and vehicles were posted by the embassy to attend to
the president’s family, a protocol officer and vehicles from the embassy were
attached to the former vice president and his family.
An embassy source revealed that Buhari’s
wife had travelled to Saudi Arabia via Emirate Airline instead of the
presidential jet, as was the practice in the previous administrations, and had
decided to seek alternative accommodation by herself at her own expense, to
accommodate her and her children.
However, it was gathered that the
government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provided an official vehicle to
convey the Nigerian president’s family around as it is done for the families of
all visiting heads of state.
The source further revealed that the
consular-general, Ahmed Umar, still sees himself as being more beholden to the
former vice president than anyone else because Sambo it was that was
instrumental to his elevation and posting to Saudi Arabia. He still sees
himself basically as Sambo’s protege, a staff member of the embassy told
LEADERSHIP.
The source added that even the two-bedroom
apartment allotted to the president’s family was a result of the efforts of the
ambassador, Alhaji Abubakar Bunu, and not the consular-general.
While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
was in power, Buhari and his family were denied any privileges by the Nigerian
embassy in Saudi Arabia, even those due to a former head of state because he
was in the opposition.
Sambo and his family had last year embarked
on a widely publicised Umrah.
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