There is presently tension in the polity, on the state of health of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in the United Kingdom, UK, on medical vacation.
Rumours have spread in several directions and quarters, with accusing fingers being pointed at some leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as being behind the death rumour.
Hinnews Recalls that President Buhari departed for London, after transmitting a letter to the leadership of the National Assembly, seeking to proceed on a 10-day medical vacation.
A competent Presidency source conversant with protocol arrangements for the President’s stay in London, disclosed that Buhari is in stable health condition, and was yet to be examined by any Doctor.
The source confirmed that Buhari was currently staying at the Nigerian House in London, and will later see his Doctors before returning to the country.
“Mr. President on Wednesday, had lunch with a delegation of Nigerians in the UK. He is hale and hearty, contrary to the rumour making the rounds.
“Arrangements are being made for the President to grant an interview to the BBC,” the source added.
The Presidency also denied the insinuation that the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, is under pressure to resign, and that he is being held hostage by some forces.
Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Senator Femi Ojudu, on Wednesday, stated that there was no truth in the allegation.
“I have read many ridiculous stories, saying the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is being held hostage by some Governors, who are trying to compel him to resign. I have equally received several calls regarding this.
“The story is simply not true. It is a fabrication. Don’t be a purveyor of fake news. The Vice President is behind his desk carrying out his task. The Federal Executive Council presided over by him has just ended, and he has been busy receiving visitors and holding meetings.”
Also, the Federal Government has urged Nigerians to disregard the subversive messages being circulated via text messages and the social media, on the health of Buhari.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement on Wednesday, said there is no iota of truth in the messages being circulated on the health of the President, who is hale and hearty.
The Minister, denied the purported emergency meetings of the State Governors in Abuja, or anywhere. He said the naysayers have also resorted to the use of ethnicity and religion, as tools to divide Nigerians, overheat the polity, and cause panic among the citizenry, in addition to using fake news and disinformation to distort government activities.
“The source(s) of the fabricated messages are already being investigated, and the authors should prepare to face the consequences of their actions.
“The emerging trend of resorting to destabilisation and scare-mongering is not unexpected, considering this government’s clamp-down on the corrupt elements in the society, the plugging of all financial leaks, which has derailed the gravy train of the looters of public treasury, and the enthronement of probity and transparency in the polity.
“While we will neither stifle press freedom, nor abridge the citizens’ right to express themselves freely, whether through criticism or protests, the security agencies will neither allow any resort to violence, nor a willful subversion of the state for whatever reason,” Lai Mohammed said.
The Information Minister speaking further, described the comments credited to Ahmed Makarfi of the PDP, as a “silly thing.”
Speaking to State House Correspondents, Lai Mohammed said Nigerians should discuss serious issues of national interest, rather than dissipate energy on the heath condition of the President.
Recall, that Makafi had told Journalists recently in Kaduna, that some APC leaders, who were interested in contesting certain positions in 2019, were behind the rumoured death of the President.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian senate has hinted that it could kick off a probe into alleged corrupt activities in the construction of the residence of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The Punch reports that this hint was dropped on Thursday, February 2 by chairman of the Senate Committee of the Federal Capital Territory Senator Dino Melaye.
Melaye alleged that the gatehouse of the three-bedroom apartment costs N250m and also claimed that the cost of the official residence being constructed for the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives were also inflated.
