Buhari not Critically Ill, Still in Charge as Osinbajo Still Takes Instructions from Him - Lai Mohammed

Amidst growing concerns over the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of In­formation, Alhaji Lai Mo­hammed, has clarified that the President is “not criti­cally ill nor in any hospital”, contrary to speculations in certain quarters.
The Presidency also add­ed its weight to the minister’s assertion when it declared on Monday that the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, is constantly in touch with the Nigerian leader and still takes instructions from him.

Buhari has spent over a month in London on med­ical vacation. His absence since January 19, 2017, has been trailed with controver­sies as top government officials continue to maintain that he is hale and hearty.

While responding to a question during a Town Hall meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, the minister said that he spoke with President Buhari just last Saturday.
He said: “There is no cause for alarm, Buhari called me at 2:43pm on Saturday. He is neither critically ill, nor in any hospital. So, there is no need for me to be giving a daily up­date of the President’s health status.”
On what the Federal Gov­ernment plans to do with the loot recovered from alleged corrupt public office holders, the minister said the admin­istration would use the funds to fill the infrastructural defi­cit and supplement social in­vestment projects.
But in a swift reaction, the Senator representing Abia North district, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, faulted gov­ernment’s decision to spend the recovered funds without proper documentation and approval by the National As­sembly.
Meanwhile, the Presiden­cy has accused the opposition of trying to put a wedge be­tween President Buhari and Osinbajo, following the un­usual encomiums heaped on the latter since he took over as Acting President over a month ago.
Some Nigerians and media articles, as well as social me­dia posts have lately been com­mending Osinbajo for tak­ing steps that give the citizens hope for the future, such as en­gaging the Niger Delta stake­holders and boosting the val­ue of the Naira.
All these are happening at a time Buhari is attending to an undisclosed ailment in London, to which he travelled on January 19, after handing over to Osinbajo.
Reacting to the accolades being showered on Osinba­jo, the Special Adviser to the President (Political Matters), Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, said on Monday that it was all a ploy by the government’s oppo­nents to pit President Buha­ri against Osinbajo and cause confusion in the polity.
According to him, both leaders have been in constant consultations, especially on major decisions and that some of the things done by Osinba­jo were initiated and ordered by Buhari.
Speaking to State House correspondents, Ojudu said that such selective and one-sided praises for Osinbajo against Buhari were “thought­less” as the Presidency remains one, having been elected on a joint ticket.
The presidential aide also dismissed other sensational re­ports on social media, like the story of Buhari having been poisoned, saying they are too unbelievable to warrant a re­sponse.
According to him, “I think it is thoughtless. I also see it as a ploy by the opposition to cause an unnecessary division. It is a joint ticket, the President and the Vice President were elect­ed based on the manifesto of the party and since they were sworn-in, they have been com­mitted to implementing that manifesto.
“The same people who said we never had economic team; no policy, are the ones saying this. It is now the policies we are implementing are matur­ing and they are seeing the results, it is not a question of one person being better than the other.
“There is nothing that has been done since the Vice Pres­ident started acting that is not something that started far back in the past.
“A good example is the Ni­ger Delta initiative. The Pres­ident called the Vice Presi­dent and said ‘I am giving you the mandate, go into the Ni­ger Delta, meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the communities, talk to the mili­tants and make sure you solve this problem for the benefit of Nigerians’.
“We are losing 1.2 million barrels of oil per day; all the gas pipelines powering the tur­bines are being blown up. And the President has said that un­less and until we resolve this problem we will not get out of recession. The VP took up the mandate and went to the Niger Delta, it is the initiative of Mr. President, not that of the Vice President,” he declared.
“These are mischief-mak­ers; those who do not wish this country well, who are always promoting crisis, who will not allow the people to bene­fit from this democracy. They are the ones promoting this kind of divisive tendencies,” Ojudu stated.