There may be more to President Buhari’s aborted official trip to
Lagos than has been reported, Ripples Nigeria has gathered. The 2-day
visit, which already had elaborate preparations put in place, was billed
to commence on Monday, May 23.
The Presidency, through the office of the Senior Special Assistant on
Media and Publicity, said on Sunday that Buhari’s scheduled visit had
been put off because of “scheduling difficulties”. It added that the
Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would stand in for Mr President
as the event had been scaled down.
‘’The President is faced with scheduling difficulties and that is the
reason for the postponement of the visit. He needs more time for Lagos
and for Edo which had earlier been stepped down.
“The truth is that the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, will now
represent the President in Lagos, said Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Ripples Nigeria has, however, gathered from sources close to the
Presidency that health concerns top the reasons President Buhari has
stayed away from the much publicized event. Speaking on condition of
anonymity, our source said, “Oga is feeling a bit under the weather and
has been advised to take some rest. It’s very unfortunate that he got
indisposed just a day to his official trip to Lagos. He should be back
on his feet shortly.”
He dispelled rumours which had gained ground about the trip being called off because of security concerns.
“There is no truth in that. While intelligence at the disposal of
security agencies clearly showed that the President could be up for some
minor embarrassment along the routes he was scheduled to travel in the
metropolis, they were not sufficient to make him abort the trip,” he
said.
Meanwhile, Ripples Nigeria can authoritatively report that Lagos is
in a resplendent mood as Vice President Osinbajo on Monday commenced the
working visit with notable presence of policemen in strategic parts of
the city. Flags and banners bearing the portraits of President Buhari
and governor Ambode were seen adorning major highways.
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