Former presidential media spokesman, Femi Adesina, has explained why Northerners fondly referred to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari as “Mai Gaskiya,” meaning “the honest one.”
Adesina made the disclosure in a lengthy article penned to commemorate what would have been Buhari’s 83rd posthumous birthday.
In the piece, Adesina said Buhari, who was born on December 17, 1942 and would have turned 83 on December 17, 2025, maintained a strict personal code of integrity throughout his life, even as he occupied several high‑profile offices.
“He would never touch public money, despite all the positions he held,” Adesina wrote, underscoring the late president’s reputation for honesty.
Adesina recalled a conversation he had with the then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, on the day the Petroleum Industry Bill was to be signed into law.
“I was conversing with the then Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari. And he told me he had never seen anyone like Buhari.
“He has never sent a note to me through anyone that I should do that person a favour, or give money. An amazing person. Many heads of agencies and parastatals under him have the same testimony,” Adesina wrote.
Adesina said Buhari’s reputation for frugality and incorruptibility endeared him to many, particularly in Northern Nigeria.
“And that was how he was all his life. He would never touch public money, despite all the positions he held.
“No wonder the average northerner dubbed him Mai Gaskiya. He was frugal to a fault. Simply incorruptible,” Adesina said.