Member
As overwhelming calls from several
sections of the country for the
presidency to make Buhari's health
status and London treatment details
public, the Federal Government have
addressed the issue.
Bisi Akande, Buhari and Tinubu in
London earlier this year
It appears the Federal Government has
ruled out the possibility of providing
daily bulletin/update on President
Muhammdu Buhari’s health status and
treatment while in London, the United
Kingdom, Punch newspaper exclusively
reports.
Top Federal Government sources
disclosed that there was no need for
such updates since Buhari had handed
over to his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,
who is now the acting President.
There had been overwhelming calls
from several sections of the country for
the Federal Government to make the
President’s health status public.
Having returned to London for another
medical vacation, there had also been
calls for the Minister of Information,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to provide daily
updates on the President’s health.
Mohammed, had in December 2009, in
his capacity as the spokesperson for the
defunct Action Congress of Nigeria,
stated that, “The current situation,
whereby ministers and aides of the
President give out uncoordinated
information on his health, is doing more
harm than good.”
He was referring to the late President of
Nigeria, Umaru Yar’ Adua.
He had said, “It is clear to discerning
Nigerians that those pretending to
speak authoritatively on the President’s
health are deceiving the public since
they are neither well-informed on the
issue nor competent to speak on it.
“Therefore, a daily briefing by the
Minister of Information, based on
authentic details provided by the
President’s doctors, should start
forthwith. As we have said many times,
the health of the President, as a public
figure can no longer be of interest only
to his family and friends. Nigerians have
a right to know.”
However, a top FG source ruled out a
daily update on Buhari’s health as
requested by Mohammed in his days as
the opposition spokesperson.
According to the source, Buhari’s health
status is of no consequence since there
is no vacancy in government and things
are running smoothly.
The source, who craved anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the matter,
said Buhari’s health crisis was different
from that of the late Umaru Yar’Adua
and it would be unfair to treat the two
cases as the same.
He said, “The case of Yar’Adua could not
be compared to that of President
Buhari. Yar’Adua did not hand over to
Jonathan when he was sick for several
months. However, Buhari handed over
to Osinbajo, which means there is no
reason to panic since government is
running smoothly.”
Another source said the president
should be allowed to recuperate, adding
that there was no point asking for
details about his health condition.
“Since Buhari has travelled to London
for treatment, let us give him some time
to recuperate and in due time, he will let
Nigerians know about his health. In any
case, it is those who are with him in
London that will be getting information
on his health.
“We, who are here in Nigeria, do not
speak with the President daily so we
can’t give updates on his health.”
All attempts to speak with Mohammed
proved abortive as he did not respond
to telephone calls placed to his phone
last night.
Meanwhile, lawyers across the country
have warned politicians against making
“unnecessary” visits to the President in
London, where he is receiving medical
treatment.
As politicians could be making plans to
visit the President now that he has
travelled to London for medical
treatment again, lawyers have said no
politician should be seen disturbing the
President with “unnecessary” visits.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike
Ozekhome, said Buhari should take the
bull by the horn and not be seen to be
controlled by a cabal.
He said Buhari should tell anyone who
wants to pay him a visit that he (the
President) is not a tourist centre.
He said, “Buhari is not a small boy for a
cabal to be controlling him. He should
say to people who decide to visit him
that he is not Mecca, Jerusalem or Rome.
“The President should be able to tell the
peddlers, the bootlickers and pretenders
who want to be seen to be close to him
that he is not Jerusalem or Rome, where
people go to for pilgrimage.
“He should tell them that he is not
Yankari Games Reserve or Obudu Cattle
Ranch where people go to have fun. He
is not Badagry or Kuramo Beach in
Lagos. He has gone abroad to seek
proper medical attention, to get treated
by expert doctors. He looks sick. He has
served the country well and there is
nothing more for him to prove by
remaining in office. So he needs to take
care of his health. Dead men don’t
govern.”
Ozekhome added that having disclosed
how ill he was and still is, the President
should be man enough to say no to the
cabal and power-mongers should they
want to visit him.
Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu
Adegboruwa, said it would be a
mockery of the Nigerian state for any
politician to visit the President while he
is receiving treatment abroad.
He said politicians travelling to London
to visit Buhari would make the country a
laughing stock in the comity of nations.
He said, “First, I believe the trip of the
President abroad for treatment is a
direct indictment on the APC regime
because what is happening is contrary
to what the party promised in its
manifesto in 2015. The party had
promised to rehabilitate teaching
hospitals to become world-class. If they
had done this, there would be no need
for President Buhari to travel to London.
“Now that the President has travelled
again without telling us the specific
place he went to and the nature of his
illness, it will be totally hypocritical for
some politicians to try to use their visit
to bribe Nigerians, making us to believe
they care.
“Politicians who do so would be making
a mockery of us abroad. They should
not make us a laughing stock again;
they should conserve the resources they
would use to travel abroad to make
Nigeria the kind of place they all rush to.
It is not reasonable to be wasting our
hard-earned foreign exchange on such
trips.”
Adegboruwa added that if it was
“really” true that the President is sick,
then there is no need to visit him.
“He needs rest. This is why we have
been calling for transparency, we need
to know what’s happening to our
President,” he said.
Also speaking, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Mr. Yusuf Ali, asked politicians
not to bother President Buhari with any
visit, describing such trips as an act of
sycophancy.
Ali said those who paid Buhari visits
during his recent 49-day medical trip
might only have done so in order to be
seen as loyal to the President.
He said, “Sometimes, politicians want to
promote sycophancy to the level of
loyalty; meanwhile, sycophancy is not
the same thing as loyalty. It’s just that in
this part of the world, anyone who is
not seen with the leader is seen as an
opponent.
“We saw what happened the other time
the President was abroad for treatment
— everyone started trying to overdo
one another in showing that they cared
for the President. Most of them also
probably used state resources to do so.
“If someone is ill, they deserve rest. Even
on medical ground, people should be
discouraged from going there. Let’s
keep praying for him here and our
prayers will work for him over there.
Politicians should let the President be.
Their going there will not heal him.”
Human rights activist, Annkio Briggs,
said politicians should not visit the
President in London while receiving
treatment.
Rather than make “unnecessary” visits,
Briggs said the political leaders should
devote much attention to the problems
facing the country towards solving
them.
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