Buhari to visit London on 10-day vacation

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement that Mr Buhari would be taking the London holiday starting Friday.

Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari will begin a 10 working-day holiday from tomorrow.

“President Buhari will be in London for the holiday,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement. Adesina said while the president is on vacation, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, will function on acting capacity as president.

The presidential spokesperson said in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, a letter has been transmitted to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to that effect.

READ ALSO: President Buhari’s closed door meeting with Dogara and Saraki

Buhari had, on April 9, 2018, left for London for his annual leave. The Presidency had explained that the president left early, to enable him rest before participating in the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2018, held at the Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, and Windsor Castle, on April 16 – April 20.

President Buhari had, in 2017, spent 154 days in London while undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment. He had, also, spent two months in the UK receiving treatment.

READ ALSO: Senate receives Buhari’s medical leave letter

President Buhari, who left the country on May 7, after receiving the last batch of Chibok Girls released by terrorist sect, Boko Haram, returned to the country on August 19, 2017.

Buhari was also in London in May for medical check up. The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had said, in the course of the technical stopover for aircraft maintenance in London, on his way back from Washington after his meeting with President Donald Trump of United States, Buhari had a meeting with his doctor.

He said the doctor requested the president to return for a meeting, which he agreed to do. He said the president returned a day earlier than the scheduled May 12 date.

READ ALSO: “I just went for a check up”, Buhari says as he returns from medical trip

Meanwhile, President Buhari, yesterday evening, visited the headquarters of his presidential campaign in Abuja. The President’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said this on his Twitter handle, @ BashirAhmaad. Bashir, who posted pictures, said Buhari was accompanied on the visit by the campaign’s Director-General, Rotimi Amaechi; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, and his Plateau State counterpart, Simon Lalong, among other chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

In a statement released later, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari took time off late yesterday afternoon to visit the proposed presidential campaign office for next year’s election.