Buhari’s health status won’t affect plans for May 29 celebration —Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s health status would not affect plans to mark the second anniversary of the administration, which comes up in a few weeks.

He said the government had reasons to celebrate because of achievements recorded in various sectors in the last two years.

“We’d be two years old in a few weeks time. And in our very normal customary way, we are going to mark it because we have a lot of story to tell,” he said.

Mohammed said this while reacting to growing concerns over the health status of President Buhari which was heightened on Wednesday, over his absence again at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

However, the minister insisted that Buhari chose the Wednesday to rest on the advice of his doctors, in order to recover faster.

“You are also aware that the president was and worked at his office yesterday. A few days before now, we came out to say he’s been asked to take some rest by his doctors and he chose today to rest and not to attend the FEC meeting.

“We want to take this opportunity to thank Nigerians who have expressed a lot of concern and sympathy and who have been praying for him. Like we’ve always said, the president will stick to his doctor’s advice so that he can recover much more quickly.”

The minister rejected suggestions that President Buhari was being fed intravenously, describing the report as bunkum, adding that the president would rest for as long as his doctors asked him to.

When asked to react to the report, he said “the answer to your first question is absolute bunkum. It is absolutely untrue that he is being fed. He was in the office yesterday as you all reported.

“And if the doctors say he should take a rest, I think you will recover faster when you rest when you ought to rest, rather than by forcing yourself to work when you are not fit to work.

“All he is doing is he is following the doctor’s advice. The president himself told the nation he has never been this sick and he is going to take it easy. He said it from day one when he came back from the UK.

“So, whatever is happening today is not any strange development, it is exactly what he said. That he’s been advised to take it easy by his doctors and that he will soon also go back for further treatment.

“So, I don’t think its anything that is out of the place from what he said. He has been quite transparent and upfront in the matter concerning his health.”

Following Buhari’s health status, the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), has urged the president to seek further medical assistance.

Meanwhile, concerns and anxieties continue to grow, as President Muhammadu Buhari, for the third time running, failed to show up at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, on Wednesday.

The president was reported to have met with the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday, raising the hope that the ailing president had finally resumed duties.

The president had been absent successively at three FEC meetings now, as what could have been the fourth was cancelled due to the Easter holiday.

Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, had at a function, said it was not compulsory for the president to attend all FEC meetings, adding that whenever the president was not around, the vice president would preside over the meeting.

The meeting is the highest decision-making organ of the country and holds every Wednesday.

Expectation was high that the president, who received briefings from the minister and NNPC boss on Tuesday, would preside over the FEC meeting, the development many believed would help douse the tension over his health.

Late on Tuesday, his wife, Aisha, also took to twitter, saying that the health situation of her husband was not that bad as being perceived, while she thanked Nigerians for the concerns shown and prayers offered.

On Monday, former presidents, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, met in Minna, Niger State, with various reports trailing their meeting.

There was also said to be many nocturnal meetings ongoing over the state of health of the president, whose last outing was a juma’t service inside the Presidential Villa.

The Presidency, while trying to calm frayed nerves over the health status of the president, had announced that though Buhari might not be seen in the office, he would continue to work from his official residence within the Presidential Villa.

President, Nigerian Baptist Convention, Reverend Samson Ayokunle, said that convention had observed with dismay, the political undercurrent that surrounded the health of the president, especially the lack of openness in telling Nigerians that he went for medical attention.

He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for him for more strength but advised the president not to hesitate in going for further treatment if that would help in quickly restoring him back to sound health.

Reverend Ayokunle, who is also the president, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), commended the Federal Government for sustaining and winning the war against various security challenges confronting the nation.

A northern group, Northern Patriotic Assembly, has warned against the exploitation of President Buhari’s health challenge.

In a statement issued in Kaduna, on Wednesday, Idakwo Jibrin, president of the group and Adamu Wakil, its secretary-general, alleged that some individuals were out to use the situation to create crisis in the country.

The group said Buhari’s health challenge had been politicised beyond comprehension by politicians who hid behind the pretext of agitation for what was in the country’s best interest.

Publicity Secretary, Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), Dr Kunle Olajide, described the continued absence of President Buhari from public glare as frightening and worrisome.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in a telephone interview on Wednesday, the prominent Yoruba leader and medical practitioner said there was no correlation between the report of the president attending to a meeting in office on Tuesday, only to fail to turn up for the weekly FEC meeting, some 24 hours later.

“The presidency must come out clean on the state of health of the president. He belongs to Nigerians. If he needs another vacation, the president must be courageous enough to tell us his state of health and ask for another medical vacation,” he said.

Professor of International Law, Akin Oyebode, asked President Buhari to disclose the true state of his health to Nigerians, even if he is incapacitated.

Oyebode said Nigerians, being an understanding people, would empathise with Buhari should he “put the cards on the table,” adding that he would not be the first president to fall sick while in office.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in a telephone conversation, the professor said President Buhari, rather than speaking through his spokespersons, should address a live telecast in his feeble state, so as to dispel rumours and insinuations being made on the true state of his health.

National chairman, Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr Olawale Oshun said, the president should transfer power to Vice-President Osinbajo and take care of his health, adding that he would prefer that option, except there was the reason to believe that he was totally incapable of functioning in that capacity as president because of his health.

A political scientist, Dr Gbade Ojo said, a situation where, on three occasions, the president was unable to attend FEC meetings and was not outside the country sent wrong signals.

According to him, to douse the tension and apprehension, the president should be courageous enough to take another leave, probably for a month, to attend to his health and come back stronger.

Former secretary general of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Frank Kokori and Chief Henry Ofa, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Delta State, urged Buhari to hand over to Vice-President Osinbajo and proceed for medical attention.

Kokori, speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on phone, however, admonished Nigerians to persist in their intercession for the ailing president, adding that he meant well for the country.