There may be more to President Buhari’s aborted official trip to Lagos than has been reported, Ripples Nigeria has gathered. The 2-day visit, which already had elaborate preparations put in place, was billed to commence on Monday, May 23.The Presidency, through the office of the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, said on Sunday that Buhari’s scheduled visit had been put off because of “scheduling difficulties”. It added that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would stand in for Mr President as the event had been scaled down.
‘’The President is faced with scheduling difficulties and that is the reason for the postponement of the visit. He needs more time for Lagos and for Edo which had earlier been stepped down.
“The truth is that the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, will now represent the President in Lagos, said Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Ripples Nigeria has, however, gathered from sources close to the Presidency that health concerns top the reasons President Buhari has stayed away from the much publicized event. Speaking on condition of anonymity, our source said, “Oga is feeling a bit under the weather and has been advised to take some rest. It’s very unfortunate that he got indisposed just a day to his official trip to Lagos. He should be back on his feet shortly.”
He dispelled rumours which had gained ground about the trip being called off because of security concerns.
“There is no truth in that. While intelligence at the disposal of security agencies clearly showed that the President could be up for some minor embarrassment along the routes he was scheduled to travel in the metropolis, they were not sufficient to make him abort the trip,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ripples Nigeria can authoritatively report that Lagos is in a resplendent mood as Vice President Osinbajo on Monday commenced the working visit with notable presence of policemen in strategic parts of the city. Flags and banners bearing the portraits of President Buhari and governor Ambode were seen adorning major highways.
Source: Ripples Nigeria