Nigerian leader still not back to full fitness after medical leave

ABUJA // Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country yesterday after six weeks of medical leave that led to questions about his health and calls for him to be replaced. Mr Buhari was in the UK undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness. On his return to Nigeria, he made it clear that he was not back to full health and that vice- president Yemi Osinbajo would remain in charge over the weekend.

Mr Buhari revealed details of his health, including blood transfusions, and said he had not been so unwell in decades.

“I feel much better now,” he said. “I have rested as much as humanly possible.”

Little has been released about the president’s treatment in London. When he left Nigeria on January 19, the government said it was for routine medical check-ups and that he would return in early February.

Instead, the 74- year- old remained out of sight for weeks while anxiety rose in Nigeria, which is grappling with crises including Boko Haram extremist attacks and an economy that last year shrank for the first time in 25 years. While Mr Buhari said he had received the best treatment available to him, some of his countrymen are angry about top officials going overseas for taxpayer-funded treatment while people at home cope with poorly funded health care.

Others in Nigeria suggested that Mr Buhari’s stand-in, Mr Osinbajo, a 59-year-old lawyer and pastor, should stay on and lead the country, one of Africa’s largest economies and top oil producers.

The president’s special adviser, Femi Adesina, said Mr Buhari’s “holiday” had been extended on doctors’ recommendations for further testing and rest, but gave no details about the state of his health. Mr Buhari would continue working with his deputy but would write to the national assembly on Monday making his return to work “formal and constitutional.”

Some have said that Muhammadu Buhari’s stand-in should stay on and lead the country