Following insinuation in some quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari’s trip to the United Kingdom is to seek medical attention rather than just being a private visit as announced, the Presidency has said that Nigerians have the right to believe what they like about that journey.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, stated this while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He added that the President has the right to use his private time the way he likes.
“Those who want to interpret everything, those who want to believe all things should just believe that it is a private trip. When a man goes on a private trip, he has the right to use his time the way he deems because he has the right to private time.
“So, those who want to believe it’s a medical trip, they have the right to believe, if it pleases them and makes them happier,” Adesina said.
The presidential spokesman said against the expectations of some people, President Buhari did not jet out of the country immediately after a rigorous presidential campaign but waited two months.
“Elections came and a lot of people expected that immediately after the elections, he would travel out to rest or attend to his health, but we see two months after the elections, the President was working vigorously,”
The Presidency had on Wednesday announced that Buhari would leave for the United Kingdom for a private visit after his official visit to Borno State on Thursday.
According to a statement by Adesina, the President is expected to return to Nigeria on May 5, 2019.
The spokesman of the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbodiyan, declined to react to Adesina’s assertion when contacted.
But the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) described as contemptuous, the manner in which the Presidency is treating Nigerians over the affairs of the number one employee of the people, the President.
SMBLF spokesman, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said it was annoying reading an official statement from the Presidency that the President was going on a private visit to London with public fund.
“Don’t the people of Nigeria deserve to have information about their leader? These people should acquaint themselves with proper democratic ethos and treat Nigerians with some respect,” he said.
