The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, explaining the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting this Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, subtly admitted that the President is not fit to work presently. National Daily is of the view that the reasons are, however, obvious; the President has been contending with health challenges which slowed him down.
Mohammed was cited to have said: “he was in office yesterday as you all reported. And if the doctor says “oh you take a rest’, I think you recover faster when you rest and when you ought to rest rather than forcing yourself to work when you are not fit to work.” The Information Minister maintained: “All he is doing is that he is following the doctors’ advice.
“So whatever is happening today is not any new development. It is actually what he said that he has been advised to take it easy by his doctors and that he would soon also go back for further medical attention in the UK.”
Mohammed had earlier said: “I think about a few days before now we did come out to say he has been asked to take some rest by his doctors and he chose today to rest instead of attending the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. We always said Mr. President will stick to his doctors’ advice so that he can recover much more quickly.”
The absence of President Buhari at the FEC meeting three consecutive times has been generating disquiets over his health status.
Whereas President Buhari has been absent at Federal Executive Council meeting three consecutive times due to ill-health, the Presidency has persistently assured Nigerians and the international community that there is no cause for alarm over the health of President Buhari.
Meanwhile, President Buhari was said to have returned to work on Tuesday; the same day, he was said to have held separate meetings with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Group Managing Director (GMD), of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikati Baru.