Mecca: Nigerian Embassy In Saudi Arabia ‘Snubs’ PMB’s Family, Honours The Sambos

Culled From Leadership Newspaper;

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.