Amid pregnancy rumours, the wife of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Aisha, has ordered all members of her staff to proceed on indefinite leave.

This was announced in a terse statement on Tuesday by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Health and Development Partners in the First Lady’s office, Mohammed Kamal.

Buhari, 79, was in Turkey with Aisha, 50, between December 16 and 19, 2021 when they attended the 3rd Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit.

Photos of the President’s wife released by the Presidency after the trip had sparked pregnancy rumours as she was pictured to have cradled what looked like a bump.

PUNCH‘s efforts to get the comments of Aisha’s spokesman, Aliyu Abdullahi; and another aide working the President’s wife, Suleiman Haruna, proved abortive on Monday. While Abdullahi’s phone was unreachable and a text sent to his line was not responded to as of press time, Haruna declined comments on the matter when our correspondent contacted him.

But in a statement on Tuesday, Kamal ordered the staff in the First Lady’s office to proceed on indefinite leave and continue work virtually.

The statement, posted on the verified Instagram handle of the President’s wife, read, “This serves to inform all staff that the office of the First lady will be closed for the upcoming festive period of Christmas and New year.