SAN FRANCISCO, August 14, (THEWILL) – Special Adviser to ailing President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, says he has no idea who is bankrolling the medical treatment of his principal in London.
He however acknowledged that as a president, the cost of Buhari’s medical treatment can be footed by Nigeria.
THEWILL recalls that Buhari left Abuja on May 7 for London for a second of treatment for an undisclosed ailment, transferring power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to become the Acting President.
He had earlier left Nigeria on January 19 for London to “undergo routine medical check-ups” during a short holiday. He only returned on March 10 after an extended period of medical treatment.
When he featured on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday evening, anchor of the programme, Seun Okinbaloye, asked Adesina, “Who is paying for the president’s treatment?”
“Does it matter at this point?” the presidential spokesman replied, to which Okinbaloye fired back: “We need to know, he is our president. He is a public official. This shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy.”
The presidential spokesman then said: “I do not know who is paying, but as a president, he has a right to be treated by the country.”
“Nigeria is taking care of the bill?” Okinbaloye asked, and Adesina retorted, “Most likely. I do not know for sure.”
Adesina, who was among the President’s media aides who visited him at the Abuja House in London on Saturday, also said in the programme that he still did not know the true nature of his ailment, adding that the president offered no explanation either.
He went on to say, “The president I saw was sharp, he was smart, he was lucid. The president I saw was almost completely mending.
“But like I said in the statement we issued, he will come when his doctors say ‘it’s time to go home’.
Dismissing the position that Buhari has not returned to the country because he is too frail to travel, Adesina said: “We can’t depend on the word out there, but I can depend on what I saw with my eyes. I saw the president and I know that he has recovered considerably.
“Once the doctors certify him, he will surely come back… If you know the president, at the peak of his performance when he just assumed the presidency and went to different parts of the world, you will know that he is a man of tremendous energy and tremendous ability.
“If a man was heal and he has mended, that means he can do what he used to and even more.”
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