Former presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, has stated that late former President Muhammadu Buhari might not have survived his health challenges if he had relied solely on medical treatment in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, Adesina said Buhari had always received his medical care in London, even before assuming office as president.
He explained that those who criticised Buhari’s frequent medical trips abroad failed to understand the importance of staying alive to implement meaningful change in the country’s healthcare system.
Adesina noted that Buhari prioritised access to the best medical expertise to preserve his life, which in turn enabled him to steer the country through critical reforms, including in the health sector.
He said, “He always had his medicals in London, even when he was not in the office. So it was not about the time he was president alone. He had always had it there.”
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“You have to be alive first to get certain things changed and corrected in your country. If he had said, ‘I will do my medicals in Nigeria’ just as a show of patriotism or something, he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country.
“But he needed to be alive to be able to lead the country to a point where we would have that expertise.”
He added that those who complained about his frequent medical trips abroad don’t know that he “needed to be alive first before he can effect a change.”
His remarks follow Buhari’s death in London on Sunday, after a prolonged illness. The Presidency confirmed that he passed away at about 4:30 p.m.
Following the death, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu expressed condolences to the former First Lady, Aishat Buhari, and directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to travel to the UK to accompany Buhari’s body back to Nigeria.
Buhari, who was elected President in 2015 and re-elected in 2019, previously served as Nigeria’s military Head of State between January 1984 and August 1985.
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