Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja in July 2017Nigeria’s Acting President, Mr. Yemi Osinbajo, told his West African country on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari, who has not been seen in public since May 7, was doing ‘very very well’ in London.
Mr. Osinbajo met with the ailing President briefly on Tuesday at the Abuja House in London and spent about an hour with him, the first time they had a tete-a-tete, since Mr. Buhari left Nigeria to treat himself in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Osinbajo did not take any question in London. But on Wednesday, he addressed Nigerian journalists and said the President was recuperating fast and was in high spirits.
He claimed that they had a very long meeting and the humour of President Buhari was intact.
“We had a very good time, we had a very good conversation on wide-ranging issues and he is in very good spirit. He is recuperating very quickly and he is doing very well,” Mr. Osinbajo said.
He added: “He is in very high spirit. He is recuperating very well and we had very long conversation. We spoke for well over an hour and his humour is all there. He is doing well and he is recuperating fast”.
Below are questions and answers as recorded by The Punch newspaper.
You just got back from seeing Mr. President, what did you discuss with him?
Well, first as you know, I went to see him. I went to check up on him and find out how he was doing. I had of course been speaking with him on the phone and I thought it will be a good thing to go and see him and you know generally check up on how he was doing and also to brief him on developments back at home. So we had a very good time, we had a very good conversation on wide-ranging issues and he is in very good spirit. He is recuperating very quickly and he is doing very well.
What is the state of health of Mr. President?
Well, as I have said, he is in very high spirit. He is recuperating very well and we had very long conversation. We spoke for well over an hour and his humour is all there. He is doing well and he is recuperating fast.
When is he due back?
I think very very shortly. Very shortly. I think we should really expect him back very shortly. Like I said, he is recuperating very fast and he is doing very very well.
Was the report of the suspended SGF and NIA DG part of your conversation?
We discussed wide-ranging issues. I really can’t go into specifics of all of the discussions we had.
Was the inauguration of the two ministers part of the discussion?
No. We didn’t discuss inauguration or anything like that. We didn’t.
When will the ministers-designate be inaugurated?
Well, I’m not in a position to say anything. I don’t have a date in mind but I’m sure very very soon, we will do that.
Are we expecting Mr. President before 90 days?
No no. Deadlines aren’t a very good thing but as I said, he is recuperating fast. We are expecting him very shortly. Much sooner than you will expect.