NIGERIANS have advised President Muhammadu Buhari to take another leave to take care of his health and hand over to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in the meantime.
In their various reactions to the failure of Buhari to attend the federal executive council meeting for a third consecutive time, Nigerians argued that the tension in the country would be doused if the President embarked on such leave.
They bemoaned that owing to the apprehension over Buhari’s state of health, certain critical decisions were not being made to improve the state of the nation’s economy.
Transfer power to Osinbajo ―ARG
National Chairman, Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr Olawale Oshun said,
“The President in a statement some days back asked Nigerians to pray for him to get well and be back on his feet. But, this is a very complex country to rule which presupposes that one will need the President to be quite healthy to be up and doing. If he has to, it will be preferable he attends to his health. About two months back, he wrote to the national assembly seeking to transfer Presidency powers to his vice, in acting capacity. And I think that option is still open because the other extreme option is that he resigns to take care of his health. But, I’m inclined to believe that he was elected for a purpose and could take time off to take care of himself, and allow his deputy to act. I’ll prefer that option except there is reason to believe that he is totally incapable of functioning in that capacity as President because of his health.”
We should keep praying for Buhari ―Atayese
The chairman, Atayese, a Yoruba socio-political group, Mr Tokunbo Ajasin said,
“He should take care of himself.
I would have loved that the President’s state of health should be officially made known to Nigerians. I can’t understand why the state of health of the President should be shrouded in secrecy. He should let us know. We should keep praying for the President. However, if he is incapable or unfit, which would be determined by him, then he should hand over to the Vice President.”
Buhari’s continued absence at FEC meeting sends wrong signals ―Political scientist
A political scientist, Dr Gbade Ojo said,
“The President is supposed to be Chairman at Federal Executive Council meetings. In the absence of Mr President for whatever reason, the Vice President chairs such meetings if the President is on annual leave, away for medical treatment or on official assignment outside Abuja. But a situation where on three occasions, the President was unable to attend FEC meetings, and is not outside the country, it is sending wrong signals. This is in the sense that the President was the one voted in, and the buck stops on his table not that of the Vice President. Mr President was sick recently and Nigerians need to be convinced that he is now healthy and is strong enough to face the task ahead. Nigeria is in a difficult situation today going by the recession that requires Mr President to take very strong decisions on daily and weekly basis to reposition the economy of the country among other issues. Therefore, the apprehension of Nigerians is therefore not misplaced. The FEC meeting is the highest decision making body and when the President is not available, critical issues may not be discussed. The FEC meeting may look like a jamboree in the absence of the President.
To douse the tension and apprehension, Mr President should be courageous enough to take another leave, probably for a month, to attend to his health and come back stronger rather than pretending about his health when actually he is restricted to his bedroom. The President is not supposed to appear once or twice a week, he is supposed to be at his desk everyday save for Saturday and Sunday.”
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