Nobody can force Muhammadu Buhari to disclose the nature of his ailment or health status, the special adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has said.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that Adesina said this while answering a question on the possibility of Nigerians getting to know about the president’s ailment.
“It is only the president himself that can declare that. And when he came back from London on March 10, he said it that he had never been that sick in his life.
“That is a declaration of his health status.
“It is within his prerogative to do that. Nobody can do it for him.
“Not even the doctors treating him can do it for him. Under the Hippocratic Oath, nobody can do it except the patient.
“Nobody; under the Hippocratic Oath, it says that even the doctor has no right to reveal the health status of his patient to anybody.
“So, it’s only Mr President that can say what exactly is wrong with him.
“Don’t forget that in June last year, he went abroad to treat an ear problem.
“That ear problem had first been treated here in Nigeria and then, when he was going on vacation, he used that opportunity to also consult specialists in London.
“When he came back, he told the country that this was what was wrong with him.
“So, the prerogative is his own to disclose and if he wants to disclose, he will. But nobody should be asking him to do it. That would be an infringement on his right,” Adesina said.
Adesina noted that the constitution does not say the president must disclose his ailment or health status.
“Nobody should be in suspense in the real sense of the word. It’s like they say, you don’t have to use Panadol for another person’s headache.
“If anybody has put himself in suspense, he’s just doing it for himself because it’s not necessary. The law does not compel a president to reveal what is wrong with him. It does not,” he said.
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