From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has said governors from the six geo-political zones that visited President Muhammadu Buhari in London, last month, advised him to attend to his health and not hurry back.
On August 6, it will be exactly 90 days since the president left for the United Kingdom to attend to his health.
Other members of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) delegation led by the governor of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, were Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom).
Speaking to State House Correspondents, yesterday, at the presidential villa, Abuja, Ortom said although they were happy to meet inBuhari in high spirit, jovial and not on wheel chair no bedridden, they had advised him to take his time and get his doctor’s clearance before returning.
He said he and his colleagues were excited when they saw President Buhari talking to them and asking about their various states, saying it was indeed a sign that God has answered the prayers of Nigerians.
“I will say halleluyah because God has answered my prayers. I was the first person that initiated prayers, both Christians and Muslims to pray for Mr. President because that is our duty. Romans 13:1 and 2 talks about that there is no power that be without God’s ordination and those of us who are subjects should continue to pray for such.
“So it is our responsibility not to be castigating Mr. President or be wishing him ill or whatever. We should be praying for him. If Mr. President is sick, it means all of us are sick, the whole country is sick. So, its is our responsibility to pray that Mr. President gets well so that our country too will be well.”
On the condition of the President when they visited, Ortom said, “Mr. President is doing well, we appreciate God, we saw him, he was not in a wheel chair, he was not bedridden, he greeted us, we cracked jokes and he was mentally alert. We discussed about the security situations in the country and asked us questions about what we are doing.
“Our prayer is that God will consummate his healing. We asked him not to hurry because there is no vacuum, the Acting President is holding forth for him and he is doing very well and he has his confidence. By the grace of God I believe that very soon he will be with us.”
Udom had also told newsmen that Buhari’s return date was not irrelevant, stressing that the most important thing was that he is recuperating.
The NGF delegation was the second to visit Buhari after some All Progessives Congress (APC) leaders and governors led by National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun.
Reacting to the unending disagreement between him and former Lagos State Commissioner of Police Abubakar Tsav, Ortom said he had nothing to hide hence his decision to go to court to encourage the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate the allegations against him.
Tsav who is a member of the Federal Public Compliant Commission (FCC) recently wrote a petition accusing Ortom of running the state as a personal estate.
Governor Ortom has since dragged the former Commission of Police to court for what he termed deliberate attempt to assassinate his character and undermine his leadership.
Ortom said although Tsav had knelt down in the presence of Tor Tiv and other prominent Tiv leaders to beg for forgiveness for being misled, the former commissioner appeared not to have repented and continued to make unsubstantiated allegations again him.