Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will pass
through London, where he spent five months on medical leave this year, on his
way home from the United Nations General Assembly, his spokesman said on
Friday.
Buhari will depart
for New York on Sunday, his spokesman said in an emailed statement. It will be
the first time he has left Nigeria since returning on Aug. 19 from Britain,
where he received treatment for an unspecified ailment.
Spokesman Femi
Adesina said Buhari would hold a lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump
and other leaders, adding: “President Buhari will transit through London on his
way back to the country.”
Buhari will be
accompanied on the trip by cabinet ministers and the governors of three states.
Nigeria’s Foreign
Minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters at the United Nations in New York on
Friday that Buhari was in “very good health” and “back to what he was before.”
“We had a very
long cabinet meeting two days ago and he was in excellent form in every way
possible,” Onyeama said. “He’s really leading, he’s very, very strong and he’s
back to his very punishing schedule so it’s just fantastic.”
Adesina did not
say whether Buhari would have medical treatment in London and declined a
request to comment further.
The refusal to
disclose details of the president’s illness has caused speculation about
whether the 74-year-old is well enough to run Africa’s most populous country
and biggest economy.
Buhari was in
London on medical leave for two months from January, and again from May 7 to
Aug. 19.
After the first
trip, the president reduced his working day to a few hours, diplomats and
government sources said at the time.
Since the second
trip, however, Buhari’s office has released a flurry of photos and statements
from his engagements, including meetings with his vice president, heads of the
armed forces and economic ministers.
News
Source: - Reuters | September 15, 2017.
Photo Source: - This Day | August 26, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment