Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says it is not true that the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari has deteriorated to the extent that he is being fed.
Responding to a question from reporters after Wednesday’s federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Mohammed said: “The answer to your first question is absolute bunkum. It is absolutely untrue that he is being fed.”
Mohammed attributed Buhari’s absence to the advice of his doctors and thanked Nigerians who have expressed concern about the well-being of the nation’s number one citizen.
“A few days before now we came out to say he’s been asked to take some rest by his doctors, and he chose today to rest and not to attend the federal executive council meeting,” he said.
Advertisement
“We want to take this opportunity to thank Nigerians who have expressed a lot of concern and sympathy, and who have been praying for him. Like we’ve always said, Mr President will stick to his doctor’s advice so that he can recover much more quickly.”
On the call for Buhari to go on another medical vacation, he said: “We thank all of them for their concern, I think it shows how concerned Nigerians are about the health of the president. And all their suggestions are being taken on board.”
Mohammed, who highlighted the progress of the current administration, said the health condition of the president will not hinder celebration of the second year anniversary of this government.
Advertisement
“We will be two years old in a few weeks time. In our very normal customary way, we are going to mark it because we have a lot of stories to tell. We are proud that within two years we have made tremendous progress.
“We’ve been able to restructure the economy on a very sound footing, we’re succeeded in not just looking for quick fixes. We are addressing the fundamental issues of our economy and which is basically that we are moving away from relying solely on oil to other areas like agriculture, solid minerals and the rest.
“In the area of the economy, for the first time, our emphasis is now more on infrastructure, on capital projects rather than on recurrent. And in the area of fighting insecurity and the criminality in the north-east, we have a good story to tell. In the area of fighting corruption, we have a good story to tell. In agriculture, we have a good story to tell.
“We have been able to revive 11 blending plants. Before now, only five blending plants were working at ten percent capacity, and we saved about $100million in foreign exchange and about N60million in budgetary provision. In the area of power, we have signed 13 power purchase agreements with 13 solar companies.
Advertisement
“And that is going to add at least one Gigawatts to the national grid. Among others, so we have a good story to tell Nigerians and I think that is what they want to hear.”
Add a comment
