The six state governors who visited President Muhammadu
Buhari yesterday at Abuja House, the official residence of the Nigerian High
Commissioner to the United Kingdom, kept mum after meeting the ailing leader.
The governors, who arrived around 2:50 p.m., left about an hour later, looking
morose and refusing to utter a word when The Guardian asked for the outcome of
their meeting with Buhari.
According to The Guardian they deliberately parked their
vehicles at the entrance of the house to prevent reporters from seeing who was
seeing them off, but it was still possible to observe that, though they were
smiling with the president’s aides as they came out of the house, the president
was conspicuously absent from the door to see the governors off.
Prior to their visit, a bouquet of flowers and a
get-well-soon card addressed to “Mr. President” was delivered by a courier
around 11:45 a.m.Asked who sent it, the courier refused to give details of the
sender. “Sorry, l cannot tell you,” he replied. But The Guardian discovered the
sender was one Mohammed Bagangida, whose goodwill message was “Get well soon,
from your son- Mohammed Babangida.”
When asked which Babangida it was that sent the card and
flowers, the courier also declined to give details, saying he was only asked to
deliver the message. “I don’t know,” he said.The six state chief executives who
visited Buhari included Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abdulaziz
Yari (Zamfara) and their Akwa Ibom counterpart, Emmanuel Udom, who wore a
purple Agbada (flowing gown).
All of them arrived in a convoy of three vehicles, with
Ajimobi and Yari sitting together in the one that got in last. Interestingly,
they swapped vehicles on the way out, as Ortom and Ajimobi sat together while
leaving. The visit itself appeared secretive and a bit odd, as the governors
did not go into the main house to see the president on arrival. Rather, they
all went into the adjacent building, the staff quarters. They were there for
about 15 minutes before proceeding to see the president in the main building.
Why they did that wasn’t clear, but it could be that they had to be briefed on
what they were allowed to say afterward.
As the visitors drove out at 3:50 p.m., The Guardian asked
questions through the window and even banged on the SUV carrying Ortom and
Ajimobi, but none of them responded. When Ortom was specifically asked if the
president was coming back home within two weeks, he kept sealed lips as the
driver zoomed off. Others in the entourage were also asked; “did you see the
president? Is the president okay?” but they did not respond.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy and non-governmental
organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has
condemned as wasteful the series of lunch meetings between governors and the
ailing Buhari in London.
It also lambasted the Senate for allegedly wasting the
historic opportunity of introducing reform-minded provisions into the
constitution such as devolution of powers to the federating units,
restructuring and resource control by voting against these amendments.
HURIWA, in a statement by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel
Onwubiko in Abuja yesterday lamented that the Federal Government under the
current administration is actively encouraging medical tourism of top officials
to the United Kingdom at grave costs to the public treasury by these stylish
dinner/lunch meetings at the behest of the presidency.
On the decision of Buhari to invite governors in batches to
visit him in London at huge public costs, HURIWA dismissed the bonanza as
unwise and a disservice to the mantra of good governance and prudence in the
handling of public fund.
The group said it would have been cheaper for the president
in London to address the media and pass his message to Nigerians since two or
three major Nigeria-funded media houses, including the Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the Voice of Nigeria (VON)
maintain offices in the United Kingdom and are watched by significant
percentage of the people of Nigeria.
Another group, United Global Resolve for Peace (UGRFP),
called for the setting up of a medical committee to ascertain the fitness of
President Buhari, even as it threatened to go to court on whether he is fit
enough to continue in office. The group said it had already written letters to
the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, the Attorney-General of the Federation
(AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami and the Acting Secretary to
Government of the Federation (SGF), Habibat Lawal, to set up the medical team
in line with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Speaking at a press briefing on behalf of the group, Pelumi
Olajengbesi in Abuja yesterday said: “We have written letters to the Acting
President, the AGF and the SGF to set up a medical committee to ascertain if
Buhari is fit enough to continue in office.“This is not about the president or
anybody, but the nation called Nigeria. We need to follow what the constitution
says and ensure that the right thing is done. We are giving them two weeks.
“If they fail to do that and set up the committee, we will
be left with no choice, but to approach the court and compel them to do the right
thing. They need to invoke that section of our constitution.”The Executive
Director of the group, Olaseni Shalom, who also spoke, blamed the current
ethnic tensions on the continuous absence of President Buhari.
Shalom said: “A fundamental factor that has the capacity to
undermine the peace is the prolonged absence of President Buhari. “While we are
sympathetic to Buhari’s health challenges, we are also convinced that his
continued absence from the country would further lead to the degeneration of an
already bad situation.
“We therefore urge the hierarchy of government to do what is
needful, what is right and just and what the constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria requires.”
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