President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the National Assembly informing it of his desire to extend his vacation.
President Buhari who left Nigeria on 19 January was scheduled to return today and resume work tomorrow.
But in a statement by Femi Adesina, the special adviser on the media, the president said he would be prolonging the leave to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors. Adesina did not indicate when the vacation will now end.
According to Adesina, the President had planned to return to Abuja Sunday evening, but was advised to complete the test cycle before returning.
“The notice has since been dispatched to the Senate President, and Speaker, House of Representatives”, Adesina said.
“Mr. President expresses his sincere gratitude to Nigerians for their concern, prayers and kind wishes”, he added.
While away, the social media have been writing several fictitious stories about the President’s health. Some reports said the President was dead, others said he was in intensive care, while another even said he was stopped from committing suicide.
Government spokesmen have debunked all the fake news and warned Nigerians to desist from being purveyors of falsehood. The President, according to the spokesmen, is hale and hearty and is in UK for routine medical checks.
On Friday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, weighed in and called the Buhari’s death wishers, wicked, callous, treacherous and abnormal.
Obasanjo said the Nigerians behind the despicable acts ought to be praying for Buhari’s ”quick recovery” and return to Nigeria.
The ex-President made his position known in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi.
”Instead of embarking on such worrisome declaration, all that the President needed “are our prayers and best wishes, which will ginger his morale to come back more stronger and better.
“No normal human being will wish an elderly person dead irrespective of their differences.
“If you don’t like him, wait for another election, not going about to say he is dead.
“No matter his health situation, we should pray for him to recover quick and come back more stronger and better. For anyone wishing him dead, such person or group of persons are callous, wicked and treacherous.
“I was also rumoured to have died almost 12 times. I don’t know what they derive from doing so, but they should seek for forgiveness.