The federal government on Tuesday reiterated its position that President Muhammadu Buhari is not obligated to disclose what ails him.
This is inspite of calls from several quarters that the government disclose his illness and also the amount of taxpayers’ money that has been expended so far on his treatment; especially the lengthy stay in the UK earlier in the year.
According to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, there is nothing strange in an ill president nor in the use of state funds to treat him.
“It’s not strange at all for a sitting president to be ill and it’s not strange either for the state to take care of his medical bill.
“I think there’s so much speculation as to what he’s been treated for.
“I think we would rather respect his privacy. If Mr President feels like telling the world his ailment, so be it. I don’t think he’s under an obligation to tell anyone,” Lai Mohammed told AFP in an interview.
President Buhari returned to Nigeria in late August after more than 100 days spent in the UK treating is yet-to-be-disclosed ailment.
In his first address upon his return from the first UK trip, an obviously recuperating Buhari said he has never being so sick before and required blood transfusions.iaway.
As Nigeria and Nigerians have an eye on the forthcoming 2019 elections, the clamour for a statement on Buhari’s state of health has increased.
Recently, a member of his cabinet, the Minister of Woman Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, claimed he had said he would only serve one, four-year term of office.
When asked about it, Mohammed was non-committal. He said the decision to run or not run rests solely in the hands of his principal.
