President Muhammadu Buhari is staying back in the United Kingdom because he needs more rest, the Presidency said yesterday.
But there is no cause for alarm, presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said.
Speaking with State House reporters, Adesina said: “The President wants Nigerians to know that he appreciates their prayers, he appreciates their concerns and their goodwill. He has added that there is really no cause to worry.
“He is the one who owns the body and there is nobody who will know his body more than him and he says no cause to worry.
“It makes sense to say that maybe from the results of the tests, further rest has been recommended”.
The statement did not say how long the rest will last.
“I speak for somebody. I do not speak for myself. So it is what he tells me to say that I say and the statement transmitted to me is that the President needs to rest for some further time,” Adesina said
On the possibility that the President will speak directly to Nigerians, he said: “What he has just done is to speak to Nigerians.”
Asked to speak on the President’s state of health, Adesina said: “Don’t you know that the Hippocratic Oath even forbids a doctor from speaking about the condition of his patient, except the patient authorises it? It is only the patient himself who can speak about what he is going through.
“This is the person going through these series of tests and rest and he says no cause to worry. Let us believe that.”
On why reporters trying to see the President in UK are being prevented, he said “I do not consider that as harassment. Presidents are not hijacked and interviewed. Those things are scheduled. So I do not consider that as harassment.”
Reacting to the possibility of the president spending months in the UK, the media adviser said: “What we have just said is what I will want us to believe. The President said he needs to rest further; the same President that communicated that to us, when it is time for him to come, he will also communicate to us.
On the claim that the President has lost his voice, he said.
“Those people need to prove it. He spoke with President Trump. Did Trump say he did not speak with the Nigerian President? Anybody can allege anything.
“My message to Nigerians is that let us learn to believe our leaders. This is a man we elected into office and he says no cause to worry; let us believe him.”