by Eze
Eluchie,
In his
letter to the Nigerian Senate announcing his temporary abdication from office
to embark on a vacation, Mr. Mohammed Buhari had in keeping with Section 145 of
the Nigerian Constitution, handed over his Office to the erstwhile Vice
President, Professor Yemi Osibajo. In Buhari’s own words: “In compliance with
Section 145{1} of the 1999 Constitution as amended, I wish to inform the
Distinguished Senate that I will be away on a short medical vacation from
Monday January, 23 to February 6th 2017 and while I am away, the
Vice President will perform the functions of my Office”. Since the transmission
of the initial letter above to the Nigerian Senate, Mr. Buhari has neither
returned to Nigeria, nor resumed his Office but has infact, via a second letter
to the Nigerian senate dated.... indefinitely extended the period of his
abdication from the Office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Technically, practically and
otherwise, from the moment Muhammadu Buhari signed the letter handing over
Presidential Powers to the Vice President, to act until such time as he,
Buhari, returns from a protracted medical vacation abroad and proceeded on his
'vacation', Muhammadu Buhari ceased to be President of the Federal Republic.
Buhari will however regain his position upon his return to Nigeria to assume the Office of
President of the Federal Republic.
Since his departure from Nigeria on the 19th of January 2017, ostensibly for a ‘medical vacation’, the handlers of the Nigerian Presidency have been engaged in desperate efforts to convince Nigerians that all is well with the former President. Some of the antics deployed by the Presidency’s media team and the Information Ministry include surreptitious release of pictures ostensibly taken in the course of visits by some Nigerian politicians to the ailing Mr. Buhari, pictures showing Mr. Buhari in postures depicting a person in good health and of relaxed disposition. Each picture of a ‘healthy’ Mr. Buhari, released by the Presidency’s handlers merely seemed to raise more doubts amongst discerning Nigerians as to the true state of affairs of Mr. Buhari’s health status.
If as is being peddled around by
the highly unreliable and established fabulists manning the Presidential Media
team, the United States President, Donald Trump, was made to have a phone
conversation with Mr. Buhari at his place of convalescence outside the shores
of Nigeria, under the guise of having a phone call with the Nigerian President,
then a fast one was played on Mr. Trump!
Mr. Trump, presuming
he spoke with Mr. Buhari, did not speak with the President of Nigeria!!Mr.
Trump had been '419ed'!!Since his departure from Nigeria on the 19th of January 2017, ostensibly for a ‘medical vacation’, the handlers of the Nigerian Presidency have been engaged in desperate efforts to convince Nigerians that all is well with the former President. Some of the antics deployed by the Presidency’s media team and the Information Ministry include surreptitious release of pictures ostensibly taken in the course of visits by some Nigerian politicians to the ailing Mr. Buhari, pictures showing Mr. Buhari in postures depicting a person in good health and of relaxed disposition. Each picture of a ‘healthy’ Mr. Buhari, released by the Presidency’s handlers merely seemed to raise more doubts amongst discerning Nigerians as to the true state of affairs of Mr. Buhari’s health status.
Most Nigerians
felt the scenario playing itself out was a poor imitation of the dire episode
which occurred during the terminal days of late President Umar Yar’Adua when
several antics were deployed by the former First Lady and some of her close
associates to continue to maintain a facade of wellbeing and normalcy, whereas
Umar Yar’Adua, who was on the throes of death, had become mentally and
physically incapable of continuing in office as President. The facade allowed
unprecedented fleecing of public funds under the authority of a non-existent
President.
Though an
unsavoury course, Nigerian have gone down this path of not knowing the whereabouts
and health status of political heads before and are taking it in their strides
in the believe, that sooner or later, the truth of the health status of Mr.
Buharri will surface. To however take the pranks of projecting an ‘all-good’
image of Mr. Buhari to the international realm, insinuating a camaraderie between
Mr. Buhari and Mr. Trump (as per alleged summaries of the phone conversation
announced by Buhari’s Media and Publicity Adviser, Femi Adesina) and
misdirecting foreign Heads of Government (President Donald Trump) into speaking
with someone else under the guise of a phone call with the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria is detestable, reprehensible and unfortunate.
Picture: Buhari and
Trump.
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