By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The proposed medical tourism of President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Kingdom, which was announced on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has been postponed.
The medical follow-up visit, which was scheduled to take place today, as reported by TheNiche on Thursday evening, was expected to last for three weeks.
No reason was given for the sudden postponement.
Another statement from Adesina on Friday announcing the postponement simply said the Presidency would subsequently announce a new date for the trip.
“The medical follow-up visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to United Kingdom earlier scheduled for today, Friday, June 25, 2021, has been postponed,” Adesina said, adding that, “A new date will be announced in due course.”
Adesina’s statement on Thursday announced that “President Muhammadu Buhari will proceed to London, the United Kingdom on Friday, June 25, 2021, for a scheduled medical follow-up. He is due back in the country during the second week of July, 2021.”
Contrary to his vow to end medical tourism if elected president, Buhari and members of his immediate family routinely travel for medical treatment in the UK since his election in 2015 as Nigerian hospitals battle with inadequate equipment and funding.
It would be recalled that the President left the country for a medical check-up in London earlier in the year, between March 30 and April 16, 2021.
The trip was announced on the same day resident doctors across the country announced they would commence an indefinite strike due to nonpayment of some allowances.