The Presidency at the weekend said contrary to reports in some sections of the media, there are no plans to extendPresident Muhammadu Buhari’s medical vacation which will end on February 6.
There are reports that the president, who was rumoured to be critically ill in a United Kingdom hospital, had written to the leadership of the Senate seeking to extend his vacation so as to fully recuperate.
However, speaking in an exclusive chat with INDEPENDENT, Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari said there was no indication that the president will not return on February 6 as stated in his letter to the Senate.
He added that contrary to the rumours in some quarters, the president has not requested any extension of his medicalvacation.
“The talk about the president seeking to extend his medicalvacation is all rumours. There is no need for such because the president is in great shape. He is alive and well, hale and hearty”, he said.
Adesina said rather than engage in talks about the president’s health, Nigerians should support him and pray for him to have the wisdom to lead the country in this trying period.
“President Buhari means well for this country. He is passionate about bringing positive change in the lives of Nigerians. The passion to better the lives of Nigerians made him contest the election four times. Now that he has won, we should cooperate with him and allow him deliver on his promises to Nigerians during the election.
Also speaking on what the president is doing to bring Nigeria out of recession, he said the president will do that by ensuring good governance which will in turn, translate to better lives for Nigerians. He added that situation of things will change for the better before the end of the year.
“What he is doing is governance; good governance, which will translate to better life for the people. It’s not going to be by sudden flight. It’s not a magic wand that he will wave; rather, it is by policies that will yield over time, and lead to the improvement in the lives of the people”.
“Things are going to change again, and change for the better before the end of this year. That is inexorable. The change will be very evident”
Also speaking on the allegations that the ruling party is always talking about economic mismanagement under the immediate past administration, he said the government will continue to talk about it in order to show Nigerians why we are in our present state.
“ It’s a matter of opinion. We must talk about how bad things were, and going forward, we will still talk about it because there is always a nexus between the past and the present. So, it is something that we will continue to talk about”.
“We will not talk about it as if we are moaning or bemoaning our fate. No. We will talk about it as a signpost for Nigerians to see why we got to where we are, but moving forward, we will get out of it”, he said.
