Coronavirus: President Buhari not briefing Nigerians ‘a matter of style’, says Adesina

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The Federal Government and the Presidency said on Thursday that President Muhammadu Buhari is healthy and fully in charge of the affairs of the nation.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed and Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President Femi Adesina spoke on this matter separately in Abuja.

The duo said the President had tested negative to the dreaded virus and dismissed social media speculations on his status

Mohammed said President Buhari is not coughing, adding: “the President is well, healthy, fit and fully in charge of the country. Some have alleged that the President is coughing; it is fake news.”

On when the President will address the nation on COVID-19, Mohammed said: “I can assure you that at the appropriate time, the President will address Nigerians.”

In his tweet @FemAdesina, the special adviser assured that President Buhari had been busy working to keep Nigerians safe from the ravaging pandemic.

He also lashed out at some people, who he alleged had been spreading false information about the President.

Adesina said those spreading lies and evil had been afflicted with diseased mind and incapable of clean and edifying thoughts.

Adesina’s tweet reads: “Why do some people imagine vain things and concoct lies and evil? Simple: their minds are diseased, and incapable of clean and edifying thoughts. President Buhari is on top of ensuring that Nigerians are kept safe from Covid-19. The good work continues.”

Although the presidential spokesman was not specific about those he was referring to or their actual offence, there were indications he might have been reacting to an audio making the rounds on social media that President Muhammadu Buhari and his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, has been flown out for medical attention abroad.

Asked why the President did not brief Nigerians as it was done in other countries, Adesina said, “It’s a matter of style”.

“The style that A adopts may not be the one that B adopts, and there is no style that you can call ‘this style’ for everybody. So, everybody is at liberty to adopt a style that suits him.”

Adesina, however, noted that the President had put certain measures in place to ensure information was passed through the right channels.

He listed these to include the setting up of a Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus, as well as briefings from the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), among other stakeholders in the nation’s health sector.

With these measures being operational, the presidential aide stressed that there was no need for President Buhari to give a regular briefing, as long as there was no communication breach.

He said, “The style our President has adopted is to set up a Presidential Task Force headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), which briefs regularly.

“You have the Minister of Health who briefs, you have the Minister of State for Health who briefs, you have the NCDC who briefs; so you have that chain and there is no lack of information.”

President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have tested negative to COVID-19.

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