By Ade Oyeyemi
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu is receiving medical treatment in France.
Sowore made the allegation on Monday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time, while commenting on the President’s continued stay outside Nigeria.
Tinubu travelled out of Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a working vacation. He initially spent time in London before proceeding to Paris, where he held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bolloré.
Sowore, however, claimed that the President’s prolonged stay in France was connected to his health, rather than solely to the working vacation announced by the Presidency.
He alleged that Tinubu’s occasional public appearances were being used to create the impression that the President was carrying out his duties normally.
“Reliable sources have said Tinubu is undergoing treatment in France. Those once-in-a-while appearances are designed to fool the public,” Sowore said.
The AAC candidate also drew comparisons with the periods when former Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari were away from the country over health-related issues.
“They used the same language when Yar’Adua and Buhari were sick and in the hospital for a long time, saying the president can govern from anywhere,” he said.
Sowore said he had monitored developments in Nigeria and at the United Nations General Assembly during his recent stay in the United States.
“I’ve been in the US for the last two weeks, and I was also monitoring what was happening at the United Nations General Assembly,” he said.
He further claimed that he did not know the nature of the ailment for which Tinubu was allegedly receiving treatment.
“Tinubu is hospitalised in France. I don’t know what ailment it is because we don’t have those details, and that is why they have not discharged him from the hospital,” Sowore added.
The claim, however, has not been independently verified. The Presidency has maintained that Tinubu is “hale and hearty” and has continued to perform his official duties while abroad.
The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu was on a working vacation and did not need to be physically present in Abuja to carry out his responsibilities.
The Presidency had also announced that Tinubu was expected to return to Nigeria during the week after extending his stay in Europe by a few days.
Reports subsequently indicated that the President was expected to return to Lagos on Tuesday, September 29, ahead of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
