UK Medical Checkup: Buhari Departs Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari has departed Nigeria for London, the United Kingdom for a medical check-up.

The President, shortly after he hosted a meeting with the security chiefs, flew in one of the jets at the Presidential fleet of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

Buhari has not travelled abroad in a long while as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

In one of his rare trips outside the country last year, the president flew to Bamako, capital of Mali, to intervene in the crisis in the country but his intervention alongside that of other African leaders did not yield the desired result as the military seized power from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, the president went on medical trips to the UK.

In 2017, he spent over 100 days in London, treating an undisclosed ailment.

This had sparked a nationwide outrage as his critics asked him to step down.

Buhari’s latest trip comes at a time when the National Association of Resident Doctors threatened an indefinite strike over poor welfare.

The doctors have given the federal government up till April 1, 2021, to address their demands.

Buhari is not expected back in the country until the second week in April according to an earlier statement made by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina on Monday when he announced the president’s trip to Nigerians.