President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to make a trip to London, the United Kingdom for medical reasons.
This disclosure was made by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, late Monday evening.
The president is said to return to the country in the secon week of April.
Before his trip, a meeting with security chiefs will be held “first thing in the morning” according to the statement.
Read the full text of the statement below:
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT BUHARI BILLED FOR ROUTINE MEDICAL CHECK-UP IN LONDON
President Muhammadu Buhari proceeds to London, the United Kingdom, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, for a routine medical check-up.
The President meets with Security Chiefs first in the morning, after which he embarks on the journey.
He is due back in the country during the second week of April 2021.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
March 29, 2021
Background Info On Buhari’s Medical Trips
The United Kingdom has been a frequent destination of the president since taking up office, a source of ire of many Nigerians.
In 2020, the Senate had condemned the president’s medical trips overseas, stating that the Presidency’s rejection of medical treatments at the State House Clinic, Abuja was unacceptable.
The Senate had said that more attention should be given to the State House Clinic, as opposed to the Presidency’s propensity for foreign medical treatment.
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President’s Trips And Yearly Budgets
The sum of N19.7 billion was presented by the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar, of which N1.3 billion was designated for the State House Clinic.
During a defence of the budget, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, Danjuma La’ah, laid a condition for approval, that unless top government officials including the president sought medical attention within the country, the budget would not be consented to.
The committee noted that “the president cannot be travelling or be taken out of the country anytime he falls sick.
“He must be attended to in our hospitals here in Nigeria. We must ensure our hospital are fully equipped to world-class standards so that no matter the issue of emergency, our hospitals should be endowed with that capacity to attend to them before flying out of the need arises.”
The 2020 budget for the president’s medical trips amounted to N3.5 billion, higher than the 2019 budget of N1.4 billion.
