Aisha Buhari Says Infamous 2016 ‘Other Room’ Comment Was Misunderstood

Aisha Buhari, wife of late former President Muhammadu Buhari, has offered a fresh perspective on her husband’s controversial “other room” remark, saying it was widely misunderstood and never intended as a public statement of belief or policy.

The comment, which drew global backlash in 2016, was made during a press conference in Berlin alongside then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Responding to questions about his wife’s criticism of his administration, Buhari remarked that she belonged to his “kitchen, living room and the other room,” a statement that quickly ignited accusations of sexism and gender insensitivity.

At the time, the remark followed Aisha Buhari’s BBC Hausa interview in which she openly criticised aspects of her husband’s government, an unusual and highly public disagreement that placed the presidential couple under intense scrutiny.

According to a newly released biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha Buhari said the statement was nothing more than a private joke between her and her husband, delivered in the wrong setting and stripped of its intended context.

The 600-page book, written by Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday, traces Buhari’s life from his early years in Daura, Katsina State, through his military and political career, to his final days in a London hospital in mid-July 2025.

Omole notes that Aisha Buhari viewed the comment with the understanding of someone familiar with her husband’s dry, military humour, but acknowledged that it was ill-suited for an international audience. He observed that what Buhari intended as humour was interpreted globally as a reflection of policy and personal ideology.

“In the global square, irony travels badly,” the author wrote, explaining that the remark’s poor reception cemented it as one of the most enduring and controversial moments of Buhari’s presidency.