President Buhari May Extend Private Visit To London For Health Reasons

Inside sources in the Presidency who spoke with SaharaReporters said there is a high likelihood of the President extending his stay on the orders of his doctors.

President Muhammadu Buhari may not return to the country on Sunday, May 5 as scheduled due to health complications.

Inside sources in the Presidency who spoke with SaharaReporters said there is a high likelihood of the President extending his stay on the orders of his doctors.

President Muhammadu Buhari had traveled to the United Kingdom on April 25 for what the presidency described as a “private visit”.

Shortly after his announcement, Buhari’s departure sparked a constitutional debate over his refusal to notify the National Assembly of his planned absence and hand over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

In 2016, he had handed over to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo after notifying the Senate of his 10-day visit to the United Kingdom where he claimed he would be seeing an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist over a persistent ear infection.

By refusing to hand over to the Vice President, Buhari breached Section 145 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which states that:

“Whenever the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his Office, he shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to that effect, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, the Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President as Acting President.

“In the event that the President is unable or fails to transmit the written declaration mentioned in subsection (1) of this section within 21 days, the National Assembly shall, by a resolution made by a simple majority of the vote of each House of the National Assembly, mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of the office of the President as Acting President until the President transmits a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives that he is now available to resume his functions as President.”