THE Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had insisted in an interview he had with journalists that the President is not ill.
Adesina made the statement shortly after Buhari’s brief interaction with journalists at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, on Monday.
President Muhammadu Buhari departed Nigeria for London where he is expected to see specialists over what the Presidency described as “persistent ear infection.”
Adesina said although the President has ear infection, that had not in any way stopped him from performing his duties as the President of the country.
He said, “The buzz going round town is that the President is ill, but ‘ill’ will be a misnomer, it should not be the right word to use.
“The President is going for a 10-day rest and during that period he will see specialists who will look at his ear because he has been treating that ear locally for sometime.
“Nigerian physicians have looked at it and now they have said ‘you are going to UK, now that you will be there. let specialists look at the ear.’
“They have treated it locally so it is not a question of whether the President is ill. If he is ill, it presupposes that there are certain things that he cannot do.
“But till the very last minute that he is traveling, the President performed the duties and functions of his office as the President. So illness is not the issue.”
Adesina however said as a human being, Buhari was entitled to a vacation.
He said with the latest vacation, the President would have rested for only 15 days since he assumed office.
He urged Nigerians to pray for Buhari so that God will take care of him and the country.
“As a human being, yes he can rest. He has been President for one full year, you know that in February he took five days leave, he is taking another 10 days now. That means 15 days leave in one year.
“You and I take more than that. So it is natural that the President, as a human being, is taking 10 days rest but he is not ill.
“We need to underscore that. Rather than going into a frenzy I will urge Nigerians to just show goodwill and patriotism, they should pray for him and wish him well.
“Things about health life and death are in the hands of God, but I believe that all is well with our President and God will take care of him and take care of the country,” the presidential spokesman said.
