Buhari’s health: Again, Presidency says no cause for alarm

.Says President is following instructions from doctors

.Some people in the corridor of power feasting on Buhari’s health condition-Akande

The Presidency for the second time in two weeks has stated that the anxiety over the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari is needless as the President is in a good state of health.

A presidential aide close to one of his doctors disclosed this development to The Daily Times on Monday night.

According to him, Buhari is adhering strictly to instruction to have a deserving rest, saying that the development was responsible for his inability to attend the rally by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the Eagle Square Abuja on Monday.

The Daily Times further gathered from one of the close relations of Buhari who has always been with some of the medical doctors attending to him, that the health condition of the President is stable.

The source, who sought anonymity, said: “Contrary to speculations, Buhari’s condition has been improving by the day. He needs some rest. And his personal doctors say he should avoid undue stress that may reverse the progress he has already attained health-wise.

“The president is in good health and he is following the instructions of his doctors accordingly. There is no cause for alarm.

“If the president is going for medical treatment abroad, the country will be duly informed. What the President needs from Nigerians is prayers as he will soon bounce back and deliver the dividends of democracy to the good people of democracy this country”.

The Daily Times recalls that the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, had in a statement last week said Buhari’s doctor are insisting that he should avoid anything that will escalate his health condition, more so as he is said to be fast recuperating.

But the failure of the President to appear at the May Day rally held in Abuja on Monday had caused apprehension in some circles as some opponents of the President again took to the social media to escalate speculations that his health has worsened.

The President on his return from United Kingdom where he went for six weeks on medical vacation had told Nigerians that he would soon return to the country for re-evaluation of his health condition.

Garba Shehu had said the President, even when he could not attend the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday had worked at home, while Ministers and heads of government agencies have been briefing him on their work schedules.

Meanwhile, legal luminary, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN); a Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development Abuja, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, and 11 others have advised Buhari to heed the advice of physicians and take a rest to attend to his health immediately.

In a joint statement made available on Monday, the group said: “We join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery of President Buhari. We are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay”.

The prominent Nigerians comprising Femi Falana (SAN), Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, Debo Adeniran, Dr. Chris Kwaja, Y. Z. Ya’u, Chom Bagu, Olanrewaju Suraju, Ezenwa Nwagwu, Anwal Musa Rafsanjani, David Ugolor,’Sina Odugbemi, Muhammed Attah and Adetokunbo Mumuni, said they gave the advice due to what they described as apparent deterioration in the President’s health condition.

The statement reads in part: “When President Buhari was recently in the United Kingdom on a medical vacation, which lasted 59 days, many public officers said that he was “hale and hearty.

“But upon his return to the country, President Buhari disclosed that he had never been that sick in his entire life. Even though the President did not disclose the nature of his ailment, he revealed that he went through blood transfusion. While thanking the Nigerian people for their prayers, the President announced that he might soon travel back for further medical treatment.

“A few weeks ago, Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to recover from his sickness. The plea was made after the Governor had visited and presumably assessed the state of the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

“However, due to the apparent deterioration in the President’s health condition, he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor attended the last two meetings of the Federal Executive Council. His absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further speculations and rumours on President Buhari’s medical condition.

“But instead of embarking on regular briefing on the actual state of the health of President Buhari, officials of the Federal Government have continued to assure the Nigerian people that the is no need for apprehension over the matter.

“In defending the absence of the President at the last FEC meeting and other state functions, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, stated that “the president’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago.”

“As we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery of President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay.”

Meanwhile, former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, on Monday, said some people in the corridor of power are feasting on the health condition of President Buhari.

Akande said this in a statement adding that the president’s ailing health is taking a toll on the country.

He expressed fear that the country may be thrown into anarchy if Nigerians did not learn from history.

He said: “These are two great red flag dangers that have the potential of plunging the country into unprecedented chaos and of destabilising the gains of democracy since 1999.

“The greatest danger, however, is for political interests at the corridor of power attempting to feast on the health of Mr. President in a dangerous manner that may aggravate the problems between the executive and the National Assembly without realising if, in the end, it could drag the entire country into avoidable doom.

“Let me warn today that those who wish to harvest political gains out of the health of the president are mistaken. This is not Nigeria of 1993.

“We are in a new national and global era of constitutionalism and order. We hope Nigerians have enough patience to learn from history.

“My greatest fear, however, is that the country should not be allowed to slide into anarchy and disorder of a “monumental proportion.”

He urged all Nigerians to pray for the president’s recovery, saying it was necessary to prevent Nigeria from being thrown into confusion.

“To avoid the ugly consequences of letting President Buhari’s ailments throw Nigeria into confusion, I am urging all Nigerians to begin to pray for his divine healing and perfect recovery,” he said.