Buhari: He could’ve long been dead if he had chosen to be treated in Nigeria – Ex aide Femi Adesina

A former presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, has said that former President Muhammadu Buhari might not have survived had he relied on Nigeria’s healthcare system.

The ex-president died in London at about 4.30 pm on Sunday, July 13, following a brief illness.

Adesina, speaking on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television, said those criticising the former president’s death in a London hospital should recall that Buhari had been receiving medical care in the UK even before his election in 2015.

His words: “He always had his medicals in London even when he was not in office, so it was not about the time he was president alone.

“And then you have to be alive first to get certain things changed or corrected in your country. If he had said, ‘I’ll do my medicals in Nigeria just as a showoff,’ he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country.

“But he needed to be alive to be able to lead the country to a point where we would have the expertise. So, those who talk of going abroad, they don’t know that a man needs to be alive first before he can effect a change.”

Buhari served as Nigeria’s civilian president from 2015 to 2023, after previously leading the country as a military head of state between 1983 and 1985.

His remains departed London on Tuesday morning for Daura, Katsina State, ahead of a state burial.