Buhari’s son had his surgery in Nigeria, not Germany – Health Minister

“The President asked his son to be treated in Nigeria.  Even when people were clamouring that his son should be flown abroad, he said no.  He just went to Germany for rehabilitation. He had his surgery in Nigeria.  I am telling you that the son was treated in Nigeria. Take that from me as the Honourable Minister,” Adewole said.

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Professor Issac Adewole said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari son, Yusuf, only had a rehabilitation in Germany and not a surgery.

Speaking on Channels Television programme, Hard Copy, Adewole stressed that Yusuf did not travel to Germany for medical treatment.

“The President asked his son to be treated in Nigeria.  Even when people were clamouring that his son should be flown abroad, he said no.

“He just went to Germany for rehabilitation. He had his surgery in Nigeria.

“I am telling you that the son was treated in Nigeria. Take that from me as the Honourable Minister,” Adewole said.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s son, Yusuf, broke one of his limbs in a bike accident on Boxing Day in Abuja, December last year.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu said the accident occurred around Gwarimpa in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari in a tweet on March 1, 2018, confirmed the return of her son, Yusuf, from a medical trip abroad.

Yusuf, according to Mrs Buhari was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Health and the Minister for Interior Abdulrahman Dambazzau, and Governor Yahya Bello of Kogi State as well as members of the family and others.

Speaking further on the state of Healthcare in Nigeria, the Health Minister said Nigerians are secretive about details of their healthcare, hence the reason why many prefer private to public hospitals.

“Nigerians are so secretive. We also lack data and information management. The average Nigerian does not want his medical condition exposed,” he said.

Asked if President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to London, the United Kingdom for treatment because he doesn’t want his medical condition exposed, Adewole said he cannot speak for the President.

“I cannot speak for the President because he is an individual. I have interacted with a number of my colleagues and I know there is always a penchant not to go to the public hospital, they always want to go to a private hospital.

“When you ask them, they reply, ‘when we are there, whatever we have is well managed and the information we have is well contained.’ Also, there is a doctor-patient relationship. When you are used to a doctor, you want to keep to that doctor.”

He added further that he doesn’t think this is an indictment on Nigeria’s healthcare sector noting that President Buhari is not the only one who seeks medical care abroad.