Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said he feels well enough to go home after an extended period of treatment for an undisclosed illness in London, but he is awaiting his doctors’ permission.
Buhari said there was “tremendous improvement” in his health and that he wishes to return home, according to a statement posted online Saturday by the Nigerian presidency.
“I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge. I’ve now learnt to obey orders, rather than be obeyed,” he is quoted as saying.
The statement was accompanied by images posted to Twitter and Facebook of Buhari meeting with Nigeria’s information minister and other aides at Abuja House in London on Saturday. In one, he is shown smiling as he receives a giant “Get well” card.
Buhari has been battling an unspecified illness since the start of the year and this is his second period of sick leave.
He was in Britain for treatment from January to March this year, and then left Nigeria again for Britain on May 7, where he’s been since.
Last month, his aides released a photo of Buhari having lunch in London with senior member of his ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), amid intense speculation in Nigeria about the President’s health. Many false reports of his death have emerged online.
The latest statement described Buhari as “amused” by the conjecture around his health, adding that the President followed events at home closely and praised Nigerian media for keeping him informed.
Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been the acting president since Buhari left the country.
