After hectic Borno trip, Buhari to visit London for medical attention
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday travel to London, UK, for a on Thursday.
Buhari is expected back in the country in the second week of July. The latest medical trip follows an official visit to Borno state.
Since he assumed office on May 29, 2015, Buhari has embarked on medical trips abroad at least five times, covering a period of no fewer than 170 days of the five years he had been in power.
The following is a timeline of the president’s trips for medical treatment; on February 5 to 10, 2016, the president took a six-day vacation in the United Kingdom, saying that his doctors lived in England.
Between June 6 and 19, 2016, Buhari went on a 10-day medical trip to England for an ear infection surgery. He extended his trip by three days to rest.
On January 19, 2017, the president was back in London again on a medical vacation.
On February 5, 2017, he wrote to the National Assembly, seeking an extension of his London medical leave. Later on March 10, 2017, Buhari returned to Nigeria but didn’t resume work immediately at Aso Villa.
The Presidency had claimed that “he was working from home.” On May 7, 2017, Buhari embarked on a trip to London for another medical vacation. He returned after 104 days – the longest he had stayed outside the country.
On August 19, 2017, Buhari returned to Nigeria, and it took him a while to resume work because rats had reportedly damaged furniture in his office.
The presidency had announced that he would be working from home. On May 8, 2018, Buhari went to London for a four-day “medical review.”
On April 26, 2019, Buhari again left for the UK on a 10-day private visit to seek medical care. He came back to the country on May 5.
In 2020, Buhari had not minimised his foreign medical trips to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global lockdown and strain on medical facilities.
Also, from March 30 to April 6 2021, the president embarked on another trip for a routine medical check-up in London.
