Nigerian President Buhari: First lady belongs in kitchen

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not take kindly Friday to reports his wife may not support his re-election: The first lady's place is the kitchen, he said.

Buhari's blatantly sexist remark came during a Berlin news conference with one of the world's most powerful women, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"I don't know which party my wife belongs to but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room," said the president, whose popularity at home has plummeted amid a deep recession.

Buhari was responding to a BBC interview in which his wife, Aisha, a businesswoman and activist, questioned his leadership and suggested she may not back his re-election bid unless he shakes up his government.

Buhari told reporters that he can "claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition" after running for president three times and succeeding on his fourth attempt.

There was no immediate reaction from Merkel, who is called a Machtfrau -- a woman of power -- in Germany for managing to reach the top as an outsider in a male-dominated world.

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu later took to Twitter to dismiss Buhari's comments as "banter."

"Politics sometimes should be spiced with humour," he tweeted. "Those of us around him know there is never a dull moment with him."