Anxiety as Buhari extends vacation

•Writes National Assembly

By Ismail

Omipidan, Lagos, Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Fred Itua, Magnus Eze, Abuja and Emmanuel Uzor, Abakaliki

There was a feeling of worry yesterday over the state of health of President Muhammadu Buhari, following Presidency announcement of extension of his vacation indefinitely.

According to a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the extension of President Buhari’s vacation became necessary in order for him to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors.

President Buhari was expected back in the country yesterday, to resume work today.

Adesina revealed that President Buhari  had written to the National Assembly, yesterday, intimating it of the extension of vacation. He did not state when the president would be back in Nigeria.

The presidential spokesman’s statement said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the National Assembly today, February 5, 2017, informing of his desire to extend his leave, in order to complete and receive results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors.

“The notice has since been dispatched to the Senate President (Bukola Saraki) and Speaker, House of Representatives (Yakubu Dogara).

“Mr. President expresses his sincere gratitude to Nigerians for their concern, prayers and kind wishes.”

Meanwhile, Daily Sun gathered that President Buhari, who is at the Nigerian High Commission property in London, was getting set to return home yesterday when doctors advised he should wait for closer observation over a procedure he underwent.

A source close the Presidency said although the president was not in critical condition, the directives of doctors had to be obeyed “since they are the experts.”

He, however, refused to talk about the duration of the observation.

President Buhari left the country on Thursday, January 19, 2017 after transmitting a letter to the National Assembly, notifying lawmakers of his annual vacation.

While Buhari said he would leave the country on January 23, he, however, left five days before the day his leave was to commence, as stated in the letter he transmitted to the National Assembly. Buhari said his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, would act on his behalf.

Adesina had, in a statement then,  said the president would undergo medical check-up while on vacation.

Buhari’s trip, however, elicited controversy, following speculations that he had died in a London hospital. The reports on his alleged death were condemned and  described as wicked and callous by the Presidency and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The extension of President Buhari’s vacation means Osinbajo will continue to exercise presidential powers for days or weeks to come.

This is the third time Buhari has transferred power to Osinbajo since the two leaders were inaugurated on May 29, 2015.

The first time was on February 5, 2016 when he embarked on a five-day vacation; and the second was in June 2016 when he travelled to the United Kingdom for treatment of what the Presidency described as ear infection.

A formal notice to both chambers of the National Assembly on the president’s intention to proceed on vacation and handover power temporarily to the vice-president is in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution.

IBB urges Nigerians to be positive about their leaders

Meanwhile, former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has urged Nigerians to always be positive about their leaders and pray for God’s guidance to enable them move the country forward.

Speaking in Minna, shortly after his return to Nigeria from a seven-week medical vacation in Switzerland, Babangida said what Nigerians owed their leaders was prayers and best wishes to enable them succeed.

“I must use this opportunity to call on Nigerians to continue to pray for the leaders and the country to move forward in positive direction,” he said.

He expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their prayers and goodwill messages during his medical vacation, stressing: “This is what Nigerians should be doing for their leaders at all levels.”

On his state of health, Babangida said: “I am feeling stronger and better now. I must thank Nigerians immensely for the prayers and concerns over my health.

“We should remain united and work collectively towards the progress of our nation by thinking positively about the leaders and providing constructive criticisms and solutions to any challenge we may face.”

Nigerians react

Other reactions yesterday trailed President Buhari’s decision to extend his vacation, with some Nigerians describing the action as an “insult” on their sensibilities.

This is even as one of Buhari’s close associates and former member of the House of Representatives, Faruk Adamu Aliyu, told Daily Sun exclusively that he spoke with the president for 30 minutes, yesterday, and that throughout the duration of the conversation, the president was just laughing. He insisted that there was “no cause for alarm.”

When told that some Nigerians were already anxious over the development, Aliyu, further said: “It is natural for some Nigerians to be anxious. But I want to assure you, and through you, assure millions of Nigerians that the president is very okay. I can assure you, I just spoke to him about 30 minutes ago. He is fine, he will return once the results of his medical test are ready.

“Don’t forget that under the constitution, the President has 21 days, within which to notify the National Assembly of his absence. But as you will recall, he wrote before he left, not waiting for the 21 days, and he has written again. This is to show good faith. Therefore, there is no cause for alarm,” he declares.

Also speaking in the same vein, a highly placed source within the top echelon of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, told Daily Sun that President Buhari was not in any serious medical condition.

“He is not in any hospital. In fact, they had packed and were set to return to Nigeria today (Sunday), when doctors requested for more time to examine him. When you go for medical examination, sometimes when they are about to discharge you, the doctors could suddenly say ‘wait for a day or two;’ that is exactly what has happened in this case. There is nothing alarming about the situation. It is only the final result that will tell, whether he is okay or not,” the source, added.

But Russian-trained medical doctor and Kano-based former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, told Daily Sun that in modern science, no test lasts for more than two weeks, adding: “There is a difference between treatment and test. The Presidency must get qualified doctors to speak to Nigerians on what is wrong with the president and his chances of survival. What this shows is that the Presidency lied to us in the first place. As a trained medical doctor, the impression I get now is that the president is probably going through some kind of treatment, which is why he is not back. But then, we need to know the nature of his ailment.”

He further said: “As far as I am concerned, handlers of Buhari and the cabal in the Presidency are a national disgrace and international laughing stock. As it happened with the late Musa Yar’Adua, the cabals are issuing statements, but not on behalf of the president. They do not mind having an absentee or invalid president, because they benefit from it.”

On his part, an elder statesman from the North, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, urged Nigerians to pray for the speedy recovery of the ailing President.

“I would not say that Nigerians should be worried. Instead, I will pray to God almighty to grant him good health very quickly,” he said.

But an Abuja-based lawyer and co-convener of Centre Against Brutality and for Protection of Journalists in Africa (CABPOJA), Mr. Ugochukwu Hanks-Ezekiel, urged the acting president to immediately convene a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, with a view to hearing from the president’s personal physician, whether or not the president was still capable of governing the country.

Governor David Umahi’s aide, Chris Ngwuta, sees the president’s action as a deliberate attempt by him and his ruling part, to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians.

According to Ngwuta, who is Umahi’s Senior Technical Assistant on Media, no responsible and responsive government would allow the citizens to speculate about the president’s state of health, saying: “The extension of Buhari’s medical vacation leaves so many questions on the lips of Nigerians and we are not happy. While we are not praying for our president to die, we have the right to know his present state of health, to stop further speculation.”

Ozekhome lists legal, political implications of Buhari’s continued stay abroad

Commenting on extension of Buhari’s vacation, constitutional lawyer and human right activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome said: “On the political implications of President Muhammadu Buhari extending his medical/holiday period abroad, it keeps the nation on ethno-religious tenterhooks, dangerous precipice, uncomfortable tension, anxiety and a dark pall on government and governance. It reminds one of the dark better forgotten days of the Yar’Adua brouhaha, which the late Dora Akunyilu described as “the cabal” unceremoniously seizing the reins of government and holding the nation to unspeakable ransom. God forbid a repetition of history. God forbid us behaving like the Bourbons of European history who learnt nothing and forgot nothing.

“On the legal  implications, it is constitionally provided that once the president transmits his absence or inability to act to the National Assembly, then the Vice president acts in his place. This means that the VP takes full control of governance and government apparatus, thus leaving no vacuum in governance. He does it till the president returns.”