The Presidency on Monday insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari was not ill, despite confirming that he is suffering from an ear infection.
The Presidency predicated its stance on the fact that Mr. Buhari was not incapacitated as a result of the ear infection for which he will see Ear, Nose and Throat (E.N.T) specialists during his 10-days’ vacation in London.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who spoke with newsmen at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as the president was leaving for London Monday, said that it was wrong to refer to the ‘ear infection’ as ‘illness’.
According to Adesina, there is nothing wrong for a president to take 15 days rest in one year in office.
He said: “The buzz going round town is that the President is ‘ill’, but ‘ill’ will be a misnomer, it should not be the right word to use”.
“The President is going for a 10 day rest and during that period he will see specialists who will look at his ear because he has been treating that ear locally for some time.
“Nigerian physicians have looked at it and now they have said you are going to UK, now that you will be there let specialists look at the ear. They have treated it locally so it is not a question of whether the President is ill. If he is ill, it presupposes that there are certain things that he cannot do.
“Till the very last minute that he is traveling, the President performed the duties and functions of his office as the President.
“So illness is not the issue, but as a human being yes he can rest. He has been President for one full year, you know that in February he took 5days leave, he is taking another 10 days now that means 15 days leave in one year”.
“You and I take more than that, so it is natural that the President as a human being is taking 10 days rest but he is not ill”, he added
Rather than going into frenzy, Mr. Adesina called on Nigerians to show goodwill and patriotism by praying and wishing the president well.
“Things about health life and death are in the hands of God, but I believe that all is well with our President and God will take care of him and take care of the country”, he said.
