Leaders of various human rights bodies in Nigeria have called on the
President to take a medical leave to enable him attend to his health,
immediately.
These rights activists include Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi
Falana; the Executive Director, SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni; Director, Centre
for Democracy and Development, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim; Executive
Chairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran; and Country Director, Search for Common
Ground, Chom Bagu.
They made the call in a joint statement issued on Monday, amid growing
concerns about the President’s health.
“As we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery
of President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of
his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without
any further delay,” they wrote.
Those who signed the statement include the Executive Director, SERAP,
Adetokunbo Mumuni; Director, Centre for Democracy and Development,
Professor Jibrin Ibrahim; and Country Director, Search for Common Ground,
Chom Bagu, as well as Executive Chairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran;
They explained that their call was based on the observation that since the
President returned from his medical vacation in the UK and despite
repeated claims by government officials that there was no cause for alarm
over his health, the President doesn’t seem to have fully recovered.
Recalling that President Buhari, upon his return, had said he had never
been so sick in his life and that he might go back for further treatment,
they suggested that comments by the likes of Kaduna State Governor Nasir
El-Rufai could not be ignored.
The statement read in part, “A few weeks ago, the Governor of Kaduna
State, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to
recover from his sickness.
“The plea was made after the Governor had visited and presumably assessed
the state of the President at the presidential villa in Abuja.
“However, due to the apparent deterioration in the President’s health
condition, he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor
attended the last two meetings of the Federal Executive Council.
“His absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further
speculations and rumours on President Buhari’s medical condition.”
They added, “But instead of embarking on regular briefing on the actual
state of the health of President Buhari, officials of the federal
government have continued to assure the Nigerian people that the is no
need for apprehension over the matter.”