Osinbanjo says Buhari was in high spirits, recovering well and is expected back in the country very soon

Prof. Osinbanjo talking to  State House correspondents about the president health

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo revealed on Wednesday that the President, Muhammadu Buhari who left the country on May 7 to receive treatment in London for an undisclosed ailment, will return to Nigeria much sooner than expected.
Osinbajo made the announcement while answering questions from State House correspondents, a few hours after he returned to Abuja from London, where he had visited the president on Tuesday.

Ever since the President left, he has not been sighted in the public, fueling speculations that the president might be in bad shape.

The speculations were given fillip recently when the governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, alleged that the president was critically ill and on life support in a London hospital.

Meanwhile, Osinbajo, who had a meeting with the President for over an hour said he decided to visit the president just to see the state of his condition and tell him the situations of things in the country .

Prof. Osinbanjo said that Buhari was in high spirits, recovering well and is expected back in the country very soon.

Osinbajo said he could not look into the issues discussed deeply and the issues bordering on the swearing-in of ministers-designate from Kogi and Gombe States were not discussed and assured his audience that they would be sworn-in in no time.

Since April the nominees were confirmed, days before Buhari left the country.

Below are pieces of the interview:

You just returned from London where you had gone to see the president. What did you discuss with him?

Well, first, as you know, I went to see him. I went to check up on him, to find out how he was doing. I had of course been speaking with him on the phone and I thought it would be a good thing to go and see him and you know, generally check up on how he was doing and also to brief him on developments back at home. So, we had a very good time. We had a very good conversation on wide ranging issues and he is in very good spirits. He is recuperating very quickly and he is doing very well.

What is the state of Mr. President’s health?

Well, as I have said, he is in very high spirits. He is recuperating very well and we had a very long conversation. We spoke for well over an hour and his humour was all there. He is doing well and he is recuperating fast.

When is he expected to be back?

I think very, very shortly. Very shortly. I think we should really expect him back very shortly. Like I said, he is recuperating very fast and he is doing very, very well.

Was the report of the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director-General part of your conversation?

Wide ranging issues (were discussed). I really can’t go into the specifics of all of the discussions we had.

Was the swearing-in of the two ministers-designate part of the discussion?

No. We did not discuss swearing-in or anything like that.

When will they be sworn in?

Well, I’m not in a position to say anything. I don’t have a date in mind but I’m sure very, very soon, we will do that.

Are we expecting Mr. President back within 90 days?

No, no. Deadlines aren’t very good things but as I said, he is recuperating fast. We are expecting him very shortly. Much sooner than you will expect.



Tell the Truth, Fayose Tells Osinbajo



The acting president was told by Fayose, who is also the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum to be truthful about the president’s health, or else he might be forced to release 11 photographs of Buhari, bed-ridden.

Fayose Addressed the journalists yesterday at the Ekiti State Government Lodge in Abuja, claiming that the acting president was lying that Buhari was recuperating and will return to the country soon.

“I’m not going to prove that to Nigerians. It is him who said he saw the president that needs to prove it to Nigerians. I have made the allegation and I have said it expressly that we are in the age of technology.

“How do we have an acting president of a nation that has visited his boss that cannot show evidence of the meeting. The pictures they are posting on the social media are pictures taken long time ago. You will recall that I said this again on the Transcorp Hilton Hotel interview in 2015.

“We are talking about the president of about 170 million people. The acting president visiting the president that has left this country for about 60 days or more cannot show evidence of the meeting. It shows the president is in a critical condition,” he said.

Fayose was been adamant when he said that Buhari is critically sick, incapacitated and currently on life support.

Osinbajo was challenged by Fayose to show Nigerians pictures and short videos of his meeting with Buhari in London on Tuesday. He described Osinbanjo’s visit as nothing but diversionary.

According to Fayose, “We pray for his (Buhari’s) health and for him to come back in one piece. However, the claim of the acting president that Buhari is recuperating fast is not true. The president is incapacitated and sick. There is no iota of truth that the president is in good condition.

“The acting president’s statement saying that Buhari is okay is not true, it is far from the truth. President Buhari is very sick, critically sick. The president is critically ill.

“If they are not careful, I will release 11 pictures about the real health status of the president any moment from now,” he threatened.

In 2015 Fayose said that he had warned Nigerians about the unstable health of the president but they refused to listen to him adding that whenever he asked about the health of the president, “they said you are asking too much”.



“But now, we have been able to establish that the president is on life support,” he said.