A statement issued by his aide, Ajuri Ngelale had announced the President’s departure from Nigeria on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, for a ‘private visit’.
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday night returned to Nigeria after spending 13 days in Paris, the French capital.
A statement issued by his aide, Ajuri Ngelale had announced the President’s departure from Nigeria on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, for a ‘private visit’.
“President Bola Tinubu departs Abuja for Paris, France, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, for a private visit.
“He will return to the country in the first week of February, 2024,” Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, had said in a statement released.
However, sources told SaharaReporters that the trip was for medical leave.
“It is a medical leave because the so-called private visit is for the President to see his doctors in France,” a Presidency source had said.
SaharaReporters months ago reported how Tinubu, after the May 29 swearing-in became exhausted and went on a bed rest.
SaharaReporters had also exclusively reported that Tinubu returned to France to see his doctors, weeks before his inauguration on May 29.
“He is returning to France to see his doctors ahead of the stress of the inauguration period so he can prepare for his swearing-in,” a top source in the ruling All Progressives Congress had told the newspaper.
On May 1, 2023, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that Tinubu visited Lagos to take a medical rest and see some of his doctors who had arrived in the country to give him follow-up medical care.
It was learnt that some members of the medical team who treated Tinubu in France were in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria to give the then-President-elect follow-up treatment, which is the care given to a patient over time after finishing treatment for a disease.
This involves monitoring a person's health over time after treatment.
Tinubu had earlier returned to Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory after weeks of medical treatment in France.
Although his media aide, Bayo Onanuga insisted he was on vacation in France, SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that Tinubu fell ill after the March 18 governorship and State Assembly elections and was flown to France for medical treatment.
However, despite the denials, SaharaReporters also reported that Tinubu’s ailment was so severe that for five days while being hospitalised abroad, he could not speak and had to be intubated.
Intubation is a procedure required to help save a life when the patient cannot breathe.
It is a process where a healthcare provider inserts a tube through a patient’s mouth or nose, then down into their trachea (airway/windpipe). The tube keeps the trachea open so that air can get through. The tube can connect to a machine that delivers air or oxygen.