Nigeria
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home on Saturday from three months of medical leave in Britain where he received treatment for an unspecified ailment.
Buhari’s leave, began on May 7 and was his second trip to London this year. Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer hat, the 74-year-old Buhari descended from his plane at the international airport in Abuja to excitement from a very large waiting party that involved government officials, the media and ordinary Nigerians.
He was greeted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has acted as interim leader, and was accorded a military salute. He made no statement and immediately travelled to the presidential villa.
The presidency on Saturday reported that the president was o return Saturday afternoon. Whiles in London, Buhari received lots of visitors including his Vice, leaders of the legislature, his media team among others.
The presidency has not disclosed the precise nature of the 74-year-old’s ailment, which has led to speculation in Nigerian media and on social media about his illness and whether he will seek a second term by contesting the 2019 election.
Buhari, who took office in May 2015, handed over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, in his absence to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa’s biggest economy.
“President Muhammadu Buhari returns to the country later today, after receiving medical attention in London,” the president’s spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement on Saturday.
“President Buhari is expected to speak to Nigerians in a broadcast by 7 a.m (0600 GMT) on Monday, August 21,” he said.
It was his second break for medical leave in Britain this year after a first that began in January and lasted nearly two months.
Buhari reduced his working day to a few hours after returning to Nigeria from his first stint of medical leave on March 10, diplomats and government sources said.
REUTERS
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