Thirteen rights activists led by Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately proceed on medical leave.
The call was contained in a statement issued on Monday, May 1, 2017 and jointly signed by the activists, according to an online report.
The activists noted that the President’s health appears to have deteriorated, given that he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor attended the last two meetings of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“His absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further speculations and rumours on President Buhari’s medical condition,” the statement read in part.
When contacted for comment, a top official in the Buhari presidency dismissed the activists as “Tinubu’s gang”.
“Don’t mind them. They are working for Tinubu,” the official who didn’t wish to be named told The Trent’s reporter. “This is all a reenactment of the “Yar’Adua” activism of 2010 like Save Nigeria Group, Enough is Enough, and many other groups all of which were sponsored by Nasir El Rufai.”
“Some of them are so blinded in their quest for power that they forget that what worked yesterday, may not work today,” the official continued.
“They think we don’t know the hand beating the drum for the dancers to display. Keep watching more intrigue will unfold in the coming weeks”
The activists equally noted that government officials have been defending the president’s conspicuous absence at the federal executive council and other state functions.
Specifically noted in the statement, Garba Shehu, a spokesperson to the president, stated that “the president’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago”.
While the activists said they are praying for the president’s speedy recovery, they advised him to heed the counsel of his doctors by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay.
The activists took a dim view of the conduct of government officials, saying instead of providing information on the actual state of the president’s health, they have been assuring the public that there. is no need for apprehension.
They recalled that the President was recently in the United Kingdom on a medical vacation, which lasted 59 days, during which many public officials said he was “hale and hearty.”
“But upon his return to the country, President Buhari disclosed that he had never been that sick in his entire life. Even though the President did not disclose the nature of his ailment, he revealed that he went through blood transfusion,” recalled the activists. They also noted that the President disclosed that he might soon travel back for further treatment.
In a similar vein, Mr. Falana and the other activists recalled that a few weeks ago, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State, urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to recover from his sickness. The activists reckoned that the governor made the plea after assessing his condition during a visit to the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Signatories to the statement also included Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Debo Adeniran, Dr. Chris Kwaja, Mr. Y. Z. Ya’u, Mr. Chom Bagu and Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju. Others were Messrs. Ezenwa Nwagwu, Anwal Musa Rafsanjani, David Ugolor, ‘Sina Odugbemi, Muhammed Attah, and Adetokunbo Mumuni.
Read more at SaharaReporters.
