BREAKING: Junketing President Buhari Again Leaves For Medical Checkup In UK
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, departed the country for the United Kingdom for medical checkup.
This was made known by the Special Adviser to the President, Femi Adesina.
Adesina had in a statement on Tuesday said Buhari would proceed to London for routine medical checks that will last for a maximum of two weeks after his Kenya trip.
“President Buhari is expected to deliver the National Statement of the country and participate in High-Level Dialogue Sessions on the Environment at the event,” Adesina had said in the statement.
“He will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of State for the Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), Director General, National Intelligence Agency, Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, and the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
“From Kenya, President Buhari will proceed to London for routine medical checks that will last for a maximum of two weeks.”
However, Buhari departed Kenya for Abuja on Friday, instead of London, UK as initially announced.
A check by SaharaReporters at the time indeed showed that Buhari’s presidential aircraft, a Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-700) with registration number 5N-FGT was not yet in the country.
However, another jet in the presidential fleet, a Falcon 7X jet (5N-FGV) arrived in the country from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya around 12:50 pm.
Since he assumed office on May 29, 2015, Buhari has embarked on medical trips abroad several times, covering a period of no fewer than 200 days of the six years he has been in power.
The following is a record of some of the President’s trips for medical treatment: between February 5 and 10, 2016, the President took a six-day vacation in the United Kingdom, saying that his doctors lived in England.
Between June 6 and 19, 2016, Buhari went on a 10-day medical trip to England for an ear infection surgery. He extended his trip by three days to rest.
On January 19, 2017, the President was back in London again on a medical vacation.
On February 5, 2017, he wrote to the National Assembly, seeking an extension of his London medical leave. Later on March 10, 2017, Buhari returned to Nigeria but didn’t resume work immediately at Aso Villa.
The Presidency had claimed that “he was working from home.”
On May 7, 2017, Buhari embarked on a trip to London for another medical vacation. He returned after 104 days – the longest he had stayed outside the country.
On August 19, 2017, Buhari returned to Nigeria, and it took him a while to resume work because rats had purportedly damaged furniture in his office.
The Presidency, therefore, announced that he would be working from home.
On May 8, 2018, Buhari went to London for a four-day “medical review.”
On April 26, 2019, Buhari again left for the UK on a 10-day private visit to seek medical care. He came back to the country on May 5.
Also, from March 30 to April 6, 2021, the President embarked on another trip for a routine medical check-up in London.
The President had on November 2, 2021, secretly abandoned the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow, Scotland for London to see his doctors.
