ABUJA: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari failed to arrive for a weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter at the start of the session said, his third consecutive absence.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo chaired the start of the session, which was open to the media, which had to leave after prayers were said and the national anthem was played. Buhari has been resting after treatment of an unspecific illness.
The 74-year-old former military ruler has hardly appeared in public since returning home in March after nearly two months’ medical leave in Britain.
He did not attend the last two Cabinet meetings.
Buhari had said on coming back from Britain that he would need more rest. Details of his medical condition were not disclosed.
On Tuesday, his wife Aisha Buhari, seeking to counter growning concerns about Buhari’s ability to run the country, said his health was not a bad as assumed. She gave no details.
Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more friendly to business than Buhari, has played an active role in driving policy changes, chairing Cabinet meetings during the president’s medical leave.
Nigerian media reported on Wednesday that former President Olusegun Obasanjo met other ex-military rulers Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar to discuss the situation.
The health of Nigeria’s president has been a sensitive issue since the death in office in 2010 of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, which sparked months of political turmoil.
During the 2015 election campaign, Buhari rejected opposition claims that he was seriously ill with prostate cancer and said they were a smear to show him as unfit for office.
Concerns grow after Nigeria’s Buhari misses key meeting
Concerns grow after Nigeria’s Buhari misses key meeting
