Buhari Hiding Health Status Like ‘Private Property’, Says Soyinka
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to disclose his true health status to Nigerians.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Friday, the professor of Comparative Literature said the current speculations about the president’s health is “unnecessary.”
“Why is the president hiding his state of health? He’s supposed to understand he’s public property, me I’m still private property, that’s why I’m not in Aso Rock,” Mr. Soyinka said.
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“Once you are in Aso Rock, or you occupy a similar position, you have a responsibility to come out frankly to your citizens.
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“Guarding your state of health like Donald Trump is guarding his tax returns is not what we expect from a Nigerian president.
“Let him address the nation and stop all these speculations which creates unnecessary political manipulations among other things.”
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Meanwhile, President Buhari for the first time since his return from medical vacation in the United Kingdom, did not attend today’s congregational Friday prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque.
He was also missing in action during the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday, with Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed saying afterwards that the President will work from home.
However, Buhari in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Thursday, allayed fears on the state of his health, saying he is still in charge.
“President Buhari’s absence at the Federal Executive Council meeting of Wednesday, April 26, was a last-minute decision; otherwise, the cabinet and the public might have been alerted in advance.
“As eager as he is to be up and about, 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.
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“President Buhari himself, on his return to the country, made Nigerians aware of the state of his health while he was in London. Full recovery is sometimes a slow process, requiring periods of rest and relaxation, as the Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed, intimated in his press briefing after the FEC meeting on Wednesday,” Mr. Shehu said.
