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The Presidency on Friday, announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved that ailing former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, be flown abroad for treatment.
A statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said “President Muhammadu Bubari has approved the immediate medical treatment of former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, outside the country”.
The statement added: “The approval followed a brief the President received Friday on the medical condition of the former Vice-President.
“The approval covers the immediate charter of an Air Ambulance for the emergency movement and the cost of treatment.
“President Buhari prays that God will grant the elder statesman speedy recovery.
But the announcement has been described as a cheap piece of propaganda and petty politics to cajole the South East.
Nigerians who reacted on social media wondered why the President was celebrating the move as an achievement even when overseas treatment was part of what Ekwueme was entitled to as a former VP.
Below are examples of the replies on Buhari’s tweet about the approval:
Accord Party chieftain, Doyin Okupe, tweeted: “The press release on the evacuation of chief Ekwueme by FG is unnecessary, indecorus& unprofessional. there ar limits 2 propaganda”.
Stanley Nwabia wrote: ‘authorises’??? U all know Nigeria is finished under PMB, right? Why use Ekwueme’s health to score shameless propaganda points?”
Many of those who reacted feel the President is only trying to score political points in the South East especially after it emerged that he was planning to tour the zone ahead of the 2019 elections.