[embedded content]
President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, admitted on Wednesday that he has not been able to speak directly with Mr. Buhari since he left more than a month ago, but the people that he speaks with have told him several times that he is well.
He said he speaks with reliable people but not with the President himself. In an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise programme, Mr. Adesina called on Nigerians to “suspend their disbelief”, and believe that the President is coming back alive.
He said he does not need to authenticate that the President is alive. He insisted that the President is well because the people he speaks with are reliable.
President Buhari left Nigeria on January 19, promising to resume work on February 6. But on February 5, he extended his sick leave in a second letter to the National Assembly.
He said his doctors had advised him to complete some tests and he would remain in the United Kingdom until those tests are completed and his doctors are satisfied.
Mr. Buhari did not say when he would be coming back. The Nigerian constitution is silent on the amount of the President is allowed to spend abroad.
Days after Mr. Buhari left, rumours began to fly that he had died or was in a very poor health. But the Presidency dismissed those rumours as mischievous and warned that the perpetrators would be prosecuted.
It provided pictures of President meeting with dignitaries, including with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Most of those dignitaries claimed that the President was well and strong. But, despite a raft of pictures with dignitaries, Nigerians continued to believe that the President was not well.
Many asked why it was so difficult for the President to speak with President Donald Trump of the United States but not with Nigerians who elected him to power.
As at today, February 22, they are yet to have a satisfactory response.
[embedded content]
Related