The Nigerian Presidency has firmly denied swirling reports alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is suffering from a serious illness and may soon be flown abroad for medical attention.
These claims, which gained traction after being published by the Nigerian Institute for Investigative Journalism last week, cited unnamed sources who claimed that the President’s medical team was preparing an evacuation plan. The report also alleged that President Tinubu had become bedridden, which supposedly disrupted government functions, with Vice President Kashim Shettima frequently stepping in for him at official engagements. Additionally, it claimed that several events scheduled for early last week were cancelled.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, AbdulAziz AbdulAziz, dismissed the assertions as unfounded.
“There is no truth in these statements. He is still in office,” AbdulAziz declared.
Questions regarding the President’s health first emerged when he was absent from the August 3 ceremony honouring Nigeria’s women’s basketball champions, D’Tigress, where Vice President Shettima represented him.
President Tinubu was last seen in public on August 1 during the opening of the Summit on Journalism for National Development in Abuja. Days earlier, he hosted the victorious Super Falcons following their win at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The Presidency maintains that the President remains committed to his duties, dismissing any suggestion of medical incapacitation. okaynews.com reports that the government views the speculation as an attempt to distract from ongoing national development efforts.
