President Buhari embarked
on a vacation on January 19
and hasn't returned since,
throwing up questions of a
looming constitutional crisis.
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42 days ago, President
Muhammadu Buhari strode
through the runway of the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport in Abuja, looking frail
and shorn of colour.
"What's wrong with going on
vacation?" Buhari shot back at
journalists rhetorically; his aides
striding dutifully around him.
"Didn't I go last year the same
time?"
As it turns out, even President
Buhari would be first to admit
that this has been no ordinary
vacation.
It was different from last year's
vacation where the Presidency
announced that the nation's
number one citizen would be
flying to the UK to treat an
infected ear.
This time, no one has been told
what the President is tending
to.
The nation has been told that
the President is "hale and
hearty", even though a "hale
and hearty" President has
postponed his home coming
indefinitely.
ALSO READ: That moment
when President was 'killed' by
the internet »
He sought for an extension, a
day before the 10-day vacation
was due to elapse.
“President Muhammadu Buhari
has written to the National
Assembly, today, February 5,
2017, informing it of his desire
to extend his leave in order to
complete and receive the results
of a series of tests
recommended by his Doctors",
announced Special Adviser to
the President on media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
“The President had planned to
return to Abuja this (Sunday)
evening, but was advised to
complete the test cycle before
returning. The notice has since
been dispatched to the Senate
President, and Speaker, House
of Representatives.
“Mr. President expresses his
sincere gratitude to Nigerians
for their concern, prayers and
kind wishes.”
The nation has been
apprehensive since the
President extended his vacation.
And that's putting it mildly.
Speculation has been rife that
Buhari is suffering from a
chronic ailment and that the
official government line that he
is only staying back in the UK to
receive test results from
Doctors, is a fabrication aimed
at concealing deeper health
concerns.
Rumours that President Buhari
is dead have since been
debunked with pictures after
pictures of the nation's
Commander-in-Chief meeting
with APC chieftains Bisi Akande
and Bola Tinubu, Senate
President Bukola Saraki, House
Speaker Yakubu Dogara and
Governor Ibikunle Amosun of
Ogun State.
The President has also placed
phone calls across to Kano
State Governor Abdullahi
Ganduje » and his media
aides » --Garba Shehu, Lai
Mohammed and Adesina.
There was also the 'small
matter' of a telephone
conversation » with U.S
President Donald Trump.
However, news reports
suggesting that Buhari won't
be physically fit to cope with the
rigours of his office should he
return, have persisted.
Three weeks ago, Pulse
reported that a cabal within the
Nigerian Presidency has been
mounting pressure on Buhari to
return home, even though the
President's Doctors hold a
contrary opinion.
The cabal has been
uncomfortable with Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo's
sterling performance in an
acting capacity, and fear that
the longer Buhari remains holed
up in a London apartment, the
likelihood that the North will
lose the power game to the
South in Nigeria's peculiar high
stakes equation, Pulse had
exclusively detailed » .
Hours after, other news outlets
picked up the story and layered
same with different versions.
Quoting unnamed sources,
online news platform, Sahara
Reporters, disclosed that "apart
from a lingering prostrate flare-
up and other chronic
conditions, the Nigerian leader
has also recently been battling
with a persistent “internal
organ” problem.
"The source attributed
President Buhari’s inability to
eat as well as his progressive
loss of weight to Crohn’s
Disease, a medical condition
that has affected his digestive
system".
ALSO READ: President speaks
to King Mohammed of
Morocco »
Sahara Reporters added that:
"Crohn's disease is an
inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) that causes inflammation
of the lining of the digestive
tract, leading to abdominal pain,
severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight
loss and malnutrition.
"Inflammation caused by the
disease can affect different
areas of the digestive tract in
different patients, but doctors
interviewed for this report
disclosed that it usually occurs
in the intestines, where the
inflammation caused by Crohn's
disease often spreads deep into
the layers of affected bowel
tissue.
"SaharaReporters had reported
that Mr. Buhari also has prostate
cancer that was first treated by
UK doctors shortly after the
Nigerian leader lost the 2011
presidential election to former
President Goodluck Jonathan".
The Presidency is yet to deny
details of this report, days after.
Back home, acting President
Osinbajo has been doing the
business.
And he's been at it so well that
Nigerians have confessed that
they aren't missing their
President.
Fears that Osinbajo is taking the
shine off his boss, forced the
Presidency to remind Nigerians
that the number two man has
been acting in accordance with
instructions handed down from
a London apartment.
“There is nothing that has been
done since the Vice-President
started acting that is not
something that started far back
in the past. A good example is
the Niger Delta initiative",
Special Adviser to President
Buhari on Political Matters,
Senator Babafemi Ojudu,
barked at journalists as the
comparisons between Osinbajo
and Buhari's governance styles,
reached fever pitch.
Ojudu added that; "The same
people who said we never had
an economic team, no policy,
nothing...are the ones saying
this.
“It is now that the policies we
are implementing are maturing
and they are seeing the result. It
is not a question of one person
being better than the other
person.
“There is nothing that has been
done since the Vice-President
started acting that is not
something that started far back
in the past. A good example is
the Niger Delta initiative.
“The President called the Vice-
President and said ‘I am giving
you the mandate, go into the
Niger Delta and meet with
everyone who is a stakeholder,
all the communities, talk to the
militants and make sure you
solve this problem for the
benefits of Nigerians.’".
And Osinbajo's charm offensive
across the Niger Delta is
beginning to yield fruit.
Nigeria's crude oil output has
hit the 2.1million bpd (barrel
per day) mark, up from previous
poor levels of 1.7million bpd
before Buhari embarked on his
vacation, following some
semblance of peace in the
creeks--one of the many gains
from the acting President's tour
of the restive region.
On Osinbajo's watch, the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
has reviewed its foreign
exchange policy by ensuring
liquidity to the interbank.
The move has seen the Naira
appreciate against the
Dollar » in recent days.
In Buhari's absence, protesters
railing against economic
hardship (made to bite even
more by a slump in the global
price of oil), have hit the streets.
It took Osinbajo's diplomatic
toolkit to calm frayed nerves.
Osinbajo has also held security
meetings with police boss
Ibrahim Idris (aimed at
restoring peace to Southern
Kaduna where religious
extremists have been
slaughtering Christians) and
service chiefs.
ALSO READ: Here's why Acting
President has been better
than his boss »
After his last security outing,
Osinbajo made it clear that
details from the meeting would
be communicated to an ailing
Buhari.
"Almost every month, these
briefings are held, it is routine
and it is the President who put
in place this whole idea of
regular briefings.
"Besides, the President is a
process person and certainly, I
am going to speak with him on
developments here", Osinbajo
assured.
The Vice President has also
ensured the confirmation of
Justice Walter Onnoghen as
the Chief Justice of Nigeria; after
Buhari's famed foot-dragging
led to yet more apprehension
on the subject in certain
quarters.
Policy analysts say Osinbajo's
professorial, wonky, engaging
style has stood in stark contrast
to Buhari's sullen, aloof
governance approach.
There are indications that 42
days may well morph into four
months or less in this game of
hide and seek between the
Presidency and the Nigerian
people, leading to suggestions
that a constitutional crisis
occasioned by the President's
absence, may well be in the
offing.
ALSO READ: Our President is ill,
deal with it »
Human Rights Lawyer, Ebun-
Olu Adegboruwa, has posited
that Buhari should be
impeached if he stays away
from office beyond 60-days.
Adegboruwa premised his
submission on the
constitutional provision that the
President is only entitled to 60-
days of annual leave.
“Once it is impossible to
determine definitively, the
period of days to be spent by
the President, whether on
annual vacation or medical
vacation, what that translates to
in law is that the President has
given indication of his inability
to perform the functions of his
office, leaving Nigerians with no
other choice than to replace
him immediately, with the
acting President as the
substantive president",
Adegboruwa told The
Guardian.
He added that: “It is indeed very
unfortunate that the President
is ill and we cannot begrudge
him the right to have his
treatment, as no one can play
God in the area of illness.
“But if the illness of the
President is of such a nature as
to make it impossible for him to
perform the functions of his
office, then there cannot be a
vacuum in that office. The fact
that there is an Acting president
will not suffice.
“A President of a sovereign
state as Nigeria cannot be
allowed to abscond his duty
post under the guise of medical
vacation.
"In this case, the President has
turned himself into some form
of tourist attraction, whereby,
he has turned his abode into an
alternative government house,
where who-is-who in Nigeria
now troop to, giving room for
speculations and vacuum in
governance.
“If by the end of February 2017,
the President is unable, for
reason of ill health, to resume
his normal duties as President,
then the Senate should proceed
to invoke the provisions of
section 144 of the constitution
to declare his seat vacant, so
that the Vice President will
officially step into the position
of President".
However, the Special Assistant
to the President on National
Assembly matters, Sen Ita
Enang, says the President has
acted in accordance with the
laws of the land.
Enang said; "What is important
is that there is communication
with the Senate.
“Once the communication is
received by the Senate and the
House of Representatives,
through their respective
presiding officers, that settles
it,” he added.

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Worried?...we're not..buh op,why ur post con long like this and we go still see person wey go quote evrything..

PetrePan:
Worried?...we're not..buh op,why ur post con long like this and we go still see person wey go quote evrything..

don't tel me, u are nt d least worried about him atall...

he will spend the no of days NK spent in jail in sick bed

fuckingAyaya:
he will spend the no of days NK spent in jail in sick bed

guy! Gods nt dat wicked u knw.. Pls pity that old man

TheBlessedMAN:
guy! Gods nt dat wicked u knw.. Pls pity that old man

no let him pity Nigerians first

fuckingAyaya:
no let him pity Nigerians first

guy, u knw say nija don dey suffer b4 dat man came into power..

TheBlessedMAN:
guy, u knw say nija don dey suffer b4 dat man came into power..

yea no doubt but not as worst as this

TheBlessedMAN:
don't tel me, u are nt d least worried about him atall...

we're doing good without him,so why worry

May his gentle soul rest in peace

lilfreezy:
May his gentle soul rest in peace

ahahah guy u wicked o.... Buh buhari is everytin except gentleness..

fuckingAyaya:
yea no doubt but not as worst as this

sure..atleast u agreed dat he's nt d genesis of our present predicament...

PetrePan:
we're doing good without him,so why worry

we av every responsibility to worry... Cos he's stil our amiable president.. Longlive buhari...

TheBlessedMAN:
we av every responsibility to worry... Cos he's stil our amiable president.. Longlive buhari...

amiable my foot,not even close

PetrePan:
amiable my foot,not even close

guy... Am nt sure u ar a Nigerian.. Mayb u ar frm Gambia or Remote part of Togo.. Cos a gud Nigerian wil neva speak ill of his presido..

TheBlessedMAN:
guy... Am nt sure u ar a Nigerian.. Mayb u ar frm Gambia or Remote part of Togo.. Cos a gud Nigerian wil neva speak ill of his presido..

I didnt speak ill of him,i'm just saying am not worried abou him not yet back..since they are also putting us in darkness over his health

PetrePan:
I didnt speak ill of him,i'm just saying am not worried abou him not yet back..since they are also putting us in darkness over his health

Ok buddy.. No Qualms..