The Presidency yesterday defended President Muhammadu Buhari’s medical trip to the United Kingdom, insisting that the President is not a medical tourist.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, made the Presidency’s position known while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
Buhari left the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, for London yesterday afternoon and is expected back in the country by the second week of April after his medical check-up in Britain.
The president had been accused by his critics of embarking on medical tourism.
But Shehu said, “I think there is a misconception of the President’s trip seen in the context of medical tourism. President Buhari is not a medical tourist.
“If someone has kept retainership with medical experts, you are talking about 30 years and plus to examine you and they give you a pass. Would you be changing your doctors every other year because there is a chance that the distance will be shortened? No. I think that the President is wise and quite correct in his decision that he retains some set of doctors who have insured good health for himself.”
