By Sadiq Umar – The Minister of Culture and Information, Lai Mohammed on Wednesday said President Muhammadu Buhari could not attend today’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting because his doctor advised him to take a rest.
Mr. Mohammed said the Mr. Buhari needed to rest and that he had chosen today (Wednesday) for his rest based on doctor’s recommendation.
The President was absent from the weekly FEC meeting for the 3rd consecutive times owing to his health problems. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has been presiding over the cabinet meeting.
The Information and Culture, however, dismissed as untrue media reports that Mr. Buhari was being fed through injections, claiming that the President came to his office yesterday (Tuesday).
“Why the President was not at the meeting. You are also aware that the President was at his office yesterday (Tuesday), and he worked at his office yesterday. 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 (Wednesday) to rest and not to attend the Federal Executive Council meeting.
“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 doctors’ advice so that he can recover much more quickly,” Mohammed said.
Reacting to the question on whether the President is being fed through injections, the minister stated that “the answer to your first question is absolute bunkum. It is absolutely untrue that he is being fed through veins. He was in the office yesterday as you all reported. And if the doctors say he should take a rest I think you’ll recover faster when you rest when you ought to rest, rather than by forcing yourself to work when you are not fit to work.
“All he is doing is he is following the doctor’s advice. Mr. President himself told the nation he has never been this sick and he is going to take it easy. He said it from day one when he came back from the UK.
“So, whatever is happening today is not any strange development, it is exactly what he said. That he’s been advised to take it easy by his doctors and that he will soon also go back for further treatment.”
