A former presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Martin Onovo, says the party has issues with President Muhammadu Buhari travelling to London to receive medical attention.
Speaking on Tuesday when he appeared on Channels Television’s politics programme, Onovo noted that the President should have stayed in the country for medical treatment.
He claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had promised Nigerians before the 2015 general elections that it would not allow public officials seek medical attention if voted into power.
He said, “We have issues with (the President) going to London for treatment, but that’s not what we are talking about. We think that a government, especially a government that promised not to allow public officials to go for foreign treatment, that they should have set the example.”
“And there have been examples even in Nigeria; late General Sanni Abacha never went outside for treatment, there is an example even in Ghana. We promised that during our National Conscience Party campaign in 2015, but that’s a different issue.”
Onovo, however, noted that President Buhari had the right not to disclose the status of his health to Nigerians, saying “we know he’s sick, anyone can fall sick”.
On the speech recently made by the President, he said the broadcast contained critical elements of leadership and addressed the most serious issues in the country.
He said, “The broadcast was very clear and he’s not supposed to address trivial issues. Everybody who has studied management understands the hierarchy of objectives.”
“He has addressed the most serious issues which are national security and national unity, so we agree with him on that prioritisation.”
Onovo contested on the platform of the NCP in the 2015 general elections which saw President Buhari become the first Nigerian to unseat an incumbent president.