London, new ‘Holy Land’ for APC chieftains

President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued stay in London, in the United Kingdom, for medical vacation has seemingly turned the city to a new ‘Holy Land’ for APC chieftains, GBENRO ADEOYE writes
Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca have been traditional holy lands for thousands of years but Nigerian politicians seem to have added a new location to the exclusive list –London.
Before now, London, the capital city of United Kingdom, to Nigerians, was only one of the world’s major economic centres. But when it was chosen by President Muhammadu Buhari as the ideal place for his vacation and medical tourism, the city adopted a new role for Nigerian politicians, particularly for members of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Buhari had few weeks ago,  written to the Senate that he would proceed on medical vacation for 10 days and that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would act on his behalf as President for the period. In the letter addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki, Buhari said he would be away from Monday, January 23 to Monday, February 6, 2017.
Since that time, speculations have run rife on all sorts of theories about the urgency required for the trip and his health status. And because there was no official disclosure of the President’s state of health, the speculations simply festered and blew up to rumours of his death and an alleged cover-up in the Presidency to manage the information for selfish reasons.
This led to several calls by Nigerians, including the Nigeria Labour Congress on the President to address the citizens from the UK to assure them that he was alive and well, but the calls were ignored by the Presidency, which insisted that Buhari could not be compelled to speak or disclose his health status.
Then, a picture of a frail looking President Buhari with Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, who was in company with a former senator, Daisy Danjuma, and another individual, surfaced online. But rather than douse the speculations, it only helped to the crowning of London as a new ‘Holy Land’ for Nigerian politicians.
And when the President again wrote to the National Assembly on February 5, informing the lawmakers of his desire to extend his leave in order to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors, it only fuelled rumours that something was amiss.
There was controversy over the picture of President with Amosun and others, with allegations trending online that it was photoshopped or an old picture that was edited to make it appear fresh.
However, Amosun had later at an event at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, insisted that he had indeed visited Buhari in London, but that he would not delve into the President’s health status.
“Yes, it is true I visited our President in London and he is doing fine,” he had said.
“If you ask me pointedly whether I saw him or not, yes I did and that is the only thing that I can say. And of course you can see he is very well, he is okay. So I don’t know what else you want me to say.
“I am not one of the spokespersons of Mr. President; so it will be out of place for me to talk on that (his health status). But then, they are doing their job and you’ve listened to all that they have said.”
Some experts have, however, likened Amosun’s recount to the accounts of pilgrims after visits to holy lands.
Interestingly, it is what London seems to have become to politicians because soon after the governor’s return, more pictures of the President on vacation surfaced online; this time, they were pictures of President Buhari with a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and its former national chirman, Chief Bisi Akande. According to a message on the official Twitter account of the Presidency, explaining the pictures, Tinubu and Akande were with Buhari at Abuja House in London.
One of the critical experts, a lawyer, Mr. Tunde Esan, blamed the situation on a lack of a proper democratic structure, which puts so much power in individuals rather than institutions.
“What drama is going on really? The President has said, ‘I am not well, I need time to attend to my health so my vice-president is the acting President. So what is this pilgrimage about? What is this waste of resources about? They are going to see a man who has said he needs to take care of his health,” Esan said.
“What this has shown is that what we have as governance is a cult of personality; there is no structure. Power resides in one man instead of in a system, so what people are doing now is paying homage to let the President know that they remain loyal to him.
“The system says that if the President, for certain reasons, is unable to perform the functions of his office, the vice-president should have all the power of the President vested in him, but that is not enough because we know for a fact that he is not the President.
“We have the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, but the truth is that all of the power is contained in one man who is the President, so every sycophant and bootlicker will let the man know that they are still loyal to him.”
A hilarious aspect of the issue later emerged online in the form of an image of popular musician, Innocent Idibia aka Tuface, photoshopped on the picture. This was soon followed by another picture in which a media aide to Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, was seated with the President and the APC chieftains.
Much like Amosun, Tinubu also gave an account of what he saw on his visit to the new ‘Holy Land’, though, it was while dismissing an online report in which he had allegedly disclaimed his visit to President Buhari.
In a statement signed by Tinubu’s media aide, Tunde Rahman, the former governor debunked the report, saying “the so-called denial of the visit is the handiwork of online mischief-makers”.
“Asiwaju Tinubu and Baba Akande were in London. The reason they travelled to the UK was to see President Buhari. And they visited him last Thursday and held discussions with him at the Abuja House in London. After the visit, the President, as a mark of respect, saw off his guests to the door.
“Pictures were taken during and after the visit and released to the media by the Presidency. These pictures were international headlines. How can anybody in his or her right senses be saying there was no such visit? It’s simply crazy! I can’t just get it,” he had said.
But the pilgrimage did not stop there as it was the turn of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, to observe their own ‘pilgrimage’ and they did not disappoint as their pictures were soon online like proper ‘tourists’.
Confirming the Wednesday, February 15 visit to London, Saraki, in a statement via his official Facebook page, said he was delighted to see that Buhari was fine.
“Myself, Rt. Honorable Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and leader of Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, paid a visit to President Buhari in Abuja House in London,” he said.
“We were delighted to see that President Buhari is doing well, was cheerful and in good spirits.
“The President I saw today is healthy, witty and himself.
“The president’s absence and imminent return shows that there is no vacuum in government and our system of democracy is working with all organs of government fulfilling their mandate. And let me use the time-tested cliché, there is no cause for alarm!”
A social commentator and legal practitioner, Liborous Oshoma, however, described the trend as a clear indication that politicians would never let an opportunity to spend taxpayers’ money pass them by.
According to him, it will not be surprising to see other governors travel to London to also see the President.
He said, “And you know our politicians, every opportunity to spend taxpayers’ money is a welcome development. Don’t be surprised that the trip made by the federal lawmakers was taken care of by taxpayers’ money. For me, such trips are private and not official. Even though the constitution states that they (federal lawmakers) shall find out the health status of the President to know if he is incapacitated to carry out his functions of office, it is not for them to do that (engage on such trips officially).
“It is the medical board that should do so. So it was a private visit and funds for such visits ought to have come from the pockets of the public officials. I learnt that the President has said that nobody should visit him but don’t be surprised that other governors will soon follow suit and collect ‘estacode’ of office, out of station allowance, and so on. The expenses will be put on the pockets of state governments, ministries or departments in questions.
“That is why we need to also invest in our infrastructure because if the right infrastructure had been in place, this slogan of ‘patronise Nigeria’ would have been a reality and this attitude of going to cure headache in London would not have come up. And if that was not there, this opportunity to visit somebody who is ill and recuperating in London would not have come up.”
However, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Monday Ubani, said there was nothing wrong in “politicians visiting their President to see how he is faring and wish him quick recovery”.
“Many Nigerians are actually expressing some level of concern about the health of the President,” he said.
“He initially asked for 10 days’ vacation and after that expired, he wrote to the leadership of the National Assembly to notify them that he was not ready to resume and he didn’t give a date. Even if not for anything else, people should care for their leader. Won’t you be a bit worried to know the state of health of the leader? I would not blame National Assembly and the APC leaders who went to London to find out the state of health of the President.”
Ubani, who highly commended acting President Osinbajo for holding down the fort on behalf of the President in a way that shows that he is very competent to run Nigeria, however, called on Buhari to make this the last time he would go abroad for medical treatment.
He said, “From now onwards, I want the President to have his medical treatment here in Nigeria, so he should take care of the health sector. I see no reason why leaders should be going abroad for medical treatment. It doesn’t make sense to me. I see no reason why our hospitals should not be standard so that our leaders and the people can be treated there.
“This is what he should endeavour to do so that next time, I won’t hear that my President has gone to the UK, United States or Germany, it does not speak well of us or Nigeria’s leadership. But I am interested in him coming back hale and hearty. So he should take care of his health because if he returns and does not survive, are we going to be happy for putting pressure on him and killing him before his time?”