Buhari to see ear doctors in London

President Muhammadu Buhari will begin a 10-dayvacation today during which he will travel to London to see an ear, nose and throat specialist.The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a three-paragraph statement last night.The presidential spokesman stated that during the holiday, President Buhari would see an E.N.T. specialist for a persistent ear infection.He said Buhari was earlier examined by his personal physician and an E.N.T specialist in Abuja and was treated.Adesina also revealed that both Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation “purely as a precaution.”Adesina had Saturday dismissed a media report that Buhari was suffering from ear infection and that he was being considered for a medical attention abroad.Buhari had on May 23 abruptly postponed his official trip to Lagos where he was later represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the inauguration of some projects of Governor Akinwumi Ambode’s administration.The Presidency had also at that time claimed thatthe postponement of the president’s trip was due to “scheduling difficulties” and that he would instead visit Lagos and Edo States after Ramadan.Similarly, Buhari had at the eleventh hour last Thursday skipped his planned trip to Ogoni land in Rivers State to flag off the clean-up operation of Ogoni land and other communities in Niger Delta that had suffered environmental degradation owing to exploration activities.A source in the presidency told Daily Trust last night that the president’s inability to travel to Rivers state for the flag off of the Ogoni clean up was due to his ill-health rather than security concerns.“The president didn’t stay away from the Ogoni trip because of security concerns. He stayed back because of the ear infection,” he said.He said doctors at the villa “advised the presidentto avoid travelling on an aircraft because of cabin pressure.”The flag-off of the clean-up of Ogoni land, which was recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report, was instead performed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Buhari’s behalf.In the same vein, the vice president represented Buhari at the 49th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which took place in Dakar, Senegal, at the weekend.President Buhari had in February embarked on a 5-day vacation.