America-based university lecturer and newspaper columnist, Prof Farooq Kperogi has apologized to former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, for propagating false report that she divorced her late husband, Muhammadu Buhari before his death.
Farooq Kperogi has written a piece on his Facebook page on July 16 titled ‘Aisha Buhari, Divorce, and Forgiveness Claim’ that Aisha and her husband got divorced after his tenure ended in 2023.
The hurtful false report had gained traction, especially in the social media, but there was no immediate response from the former First Lady who was mourning her late husband.
In his apology to Aisha Buhari Prof Kperogi, who claims to have been told of the divorce by a very reliable source, however, deposed that whether true or not that he should not have narrated it.
Aisha Buhari according to him reached out to deny the story of the divorce through her erstwhile SSA on Public Affairs, Sani Zoro.
Offering his profuse apologies upon what he said was a very regrettable utterance on his part, Kperogi wrote: “In a Facebook post published on July 20, Kperogi admitted to making a serious error of judgment by going public with an unverified report alleging that Aisha Buhari and her husband had divorced shortly after he left office in 2023.
“I honestly didn’t anticipate the profoundly painful consequences that my July 16 Facebook update titled ‘Aisha Buhari, Divorce, and Forgiveness Claim’ would have on former First Lady Mrs. Aisha Buhari and people closest to her,” he wrote.
The initial update, which made waves on social media just days after the former president’s death and burial, was widely syndicated by several national news platforms. Most outlets had quoted Kperogi directly, which gave the Aisha Buhari divorce claim more traction and credibility.
However, in his latest post, Kperogi admitted that while his source was trustworthy and confident in the information, the story should never have been made public.
“Going public with the information was an error on my part, as not every well-sourced information is for public consumption,” he stated.
Kperogi also acknowledged the intervention of Alhaji Sani Zorro, the former Senior Special Assistant to the First Lady on Public Affairs, who had reached out to challenge the accuracy of the Aisha Buhari divorce claim.
According to Kperogi, Zorro conveyed Mrs. Buhari’s position that her marriage to the late president remained intact until his death.
“I will not contest the particulars and veracity of the information with Alhaji Sani who conveyed the former First Lady’s position that her marriage was intact,” Kperogi added.
“After all, as the late MKO Abiola memorably said, no one can give you a haircut in your absence.”
He went on to acknowledge that regardless of what may or may not be true, the hurt his claim caused outweighs the need to insist on its accuracy.
“Clearly, Mrs. Buhari herself has the ultimate authority and right to define the status of her marriage… Her truth should be respected as supreme.”
“I acted without malice, ulterior motives, or external influence,” Kperogi insisted. “But it shows I am only human, an imperfect human.”
