Yar'Adua's Health Scenario More Complicated than Buhari's - Minister

Rules out daily report on his health, Says VP Osinbajo in-charge

Insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari “is absolutely in no danger” despite undergoing medical tests in London, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has urged Nigerians not to compare the present scenario with that of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who died while on a similar health-related vacation abroad in 2010.

Responding to questions from State House correspond­ents after yesterday’s Federal Ex­ecutive Council (FEC), Moham­med said there was therefore no need giving daily updates on Bu­hari’s health as he had then de­manded of government when he was an opposition party spokes­man in 2010.
He further argued that unlike Yar’Adua, the President transmit­ted power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo before proceeding to London, adding that Buhari has in fact, by obeying the Constitution, turned out to be a victim of his own transparency.
According to Mohammed, “I think I can say without any equiv­ocation that he (Buhari) is well, he is hale and he is hearty, no ques­tion about that.
“Do you think Mr. President will be ill and we will be here and going about our businesses like this? All our ministers are busy. But I want to assure you that Mr. President is well and he is abso­lutely in no danger.
“I think it was one of the newspapers that said when I was the spokesman of AC, I demand­ed for hourly bulletin of Yar’Adua’s health and that I ought to be giv­ing hourly bulletin as Minister of Information on the health of the president. And I said you are comparing apples and oranges.
“Mr. President is not ill, he is not in hospital, there will be no need to give anybody hourly bul­letin about his health - pure and simple.
“Mr. President, like I said elsewhere, is a victim of his own transparency. He was going on leave and he did what the consti­tution said he should do.
“He transmitted a letter to the National Assembly and an acting president was put in place and he said ‘while I am on leave I am going to conduct some med­ical tests’, which all of us do with­out announcing it.
“And of course, less than six hours after he got there, he was pronounced dead by some people. Even those who saw him climb the aircraft in Abuja said he was flown by air ambulance.
“I can assure you that Mr. President is well, hale and hearty and there’s no cause for concern. The Acting President speaks to him every day and he told you so.”
Noting that Buhari had since he assumed office been rumoured dead three times, the Minister also described as ridiculous the argu­ment that the president ought not have gone on vacation while the country is in recession.
According to him: “Our con­stitution guarantees that. Did Obama not go on leave? Do oth­er presidents not go on leave? Mr. President will go on vacation when he has to go on vacation. Do you know how many ministers have gone on vacation this year? To say Mr. President cannot go on vacation? That is ridiculous.”

(Authority Newspapers)