Former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye is said to be down with renal failure.
The Nation reports that Dariye is currently hospitalised at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
The national daily quoted a government source, who pleaded not to be named, as saying that Dariye needed prayers.
The source said: “I have gone to see him. He is having serious health challenges. From my finding and from the doctor, his aliment is kidney failure and it is critical.”
The Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), FCT Command Public Relations Officer (PRO), Chukwuedo Humphrey, confirmed that Dariye is hospitalized, but he declined to state his ailment.
He said the Service had been managing his illness since last October.
Humphrey said: “I will not mention the name of the illness to you and the hospital where he is. Normally people whose health we can’t manage we refer outside for proper medical attention. We have been managing his illness since October/November.”
Asked when Dariye will be discharged, the NPS spokesman said: “It is the doctor who knows when he can be discharged. We have now limited the number of people visiting him at the hospital. We are just allowing his wife, close family and friends, and law enforcement personnel. Tight security is around him just as if he is in the prison cell.”
“His wife is always allowed around him. And she is always full of praises to the NPS for the proper medical attention. And his court hearings are ongoing, he does not need to appear in court. His lawyers are there to defend him.
“Because of his health challenge, he opted for self-feeding. Because we cannot be cooking any special food for him. His family brings food for him.”
