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The special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday said he was not sure if the federal government was responsible for the President’s medical bills.
Buhari, on May 7, left Nigeria for the United Kingdom to treat an undisclosed ailment. There have been protests for him to resume or resign.
Appearing on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday, the following conversation ensued between Adesina and Seun Okinbaloye, anchor of the programme:
Okinbaloye: “Who is paying for the president’s treatment?”
Adesina: “Does it matter at this point?”
Okinbaloye: “We need to know, he is our president. He is a public official. This shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy.”
Adesina: “I do not know who is paying, but as a president, he has a right to be treated by the country.
Okinbaloye: “Nigeria is taking care of the bill?”
Adesina:“Most likely. I don not know for sure.”
Adesina who was in the media delegation that met Buhari in London during the weekend, added: “The president I saw was sharp, he was smart, he was lucid. The president I saw was almost completely mending,” Adesina said.
“But like I said in the statement we issued, he will come when his doctors say ‘it’s time to go home’.
“We can’t depend on the word out there, but I can depend on what I saw with my eyes. I saw the president and I know that he has recovered considerably.
“Once the doctors certify him, he will surely come back… If you know the president, at the peak of his performance when he just assumed the presidency and went to different parts of the world, you will know that he is a man of tremendous energy and tremendous ability.
“If a man was healed and he has mended, that means he can do what he used to and even more,” he added.