President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday was absent at the Presidential Villa, Abuja mosque.
The reason for his absence was not known as at press time.
However, Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State); Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State) and Abdulahi Ganduje (Kano State) were amongst those that worshiped at the Villa Mosque.
According to a statement on Friday, the senior special assistant on media, Malam Garba Shehu said President Buhari’s absence at the Federal Executive Council meeting of Wednesday, April 26, was a last minute decision.
“Otherwise, the cabinet and the public might have been alerted in advance. As eager as he is to be up and about, the President’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago.
“President Buhari himself, on his return to the country, made Nigerians aware of the state of his health while he was in London.
Full recovery is sometimes a slow process, requiring periods of rest and relaxation, as the Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed, intimated in his press briefing after the FEC meeting on Wednesday.
“Despite his lack of visibility, Nigerians should rest assured that President Buhari has not abdicated his role as Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria.
“He receives daily briefings on the activities of government and confers regularly with his Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
“His private residence, in which he has been spending the majority of his time recently, also has a fully equipped office.
“God is the giver of life and health. We are grateful that He has seen our President through the worst period of his convalescence in London.
“We are thankful that the President has passed a number of benchmarks already. We pray that God continues to see him through this period of recuperation. “
But the State House had on Thursday issued a statement that the President was recuperating at his private residence, a reason why he is rarely seen in the public.
On Thursday, Aso Villa has assured Nigerians that there is no need for apprehension over the health of our President, Muhammadu Buhari, despite concerns being raised in the media.
