Ezekwesili shames President for 5th medical trip to London

Former Minister of Education and activist, Oby Ezekwesili, has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for his latest medical trip to London.

President Buhari left Abuja for the United Kingdom on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, for what amounts to his fifth trip abroad to seek medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Taking to her Twitter account on Wednesday, May 9, Ezekwesili said the president's choices and actions have been annoying. She posted the tweet over a quote attributed to the president when he was a candidate in 2015 where he criticised politicians seeking medical treatment abroad.

She said, "This is actually annoying in the light of all we have seen of President Muhammadu Buhari's choices and actions.

"In life, don't get to the point where 'What you are doing is so loud that others cannot hear what you are saying'. Our President and his FG are sadly there now. Shame."

Buhari flies to London to meet doctor

President Buhari took off from the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Tuesday at 3:20pm.

In a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Monday, May 7, the president's doctor requested his presence when he recently had a "technical stopover" in London.

The president had stopped there on his way back to Nigeria while flying from a working visit to the United States.

He said, "In the course of the technical stop-over for aircraft maintenance in London on his way back from Washington last week, the President had a meeting with his doctor.

"The Doctor requested the President to return for a meeting which he agreed to do."

In 2017, President Buhari spent a combined 154 days in London on two separate medical visits to treat an undisclosed illness, prompting concerns about how fit he is for duty.

Since the 75-year-old president declared to run for a second term in the 2019 presidential election, his health status is expected to be a major vulnerability for the opposition to exploit.

President Buhari is expected to return from his medical trip on Saturday, May 12.