The Presidency on Tuesday has denied media reports that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was ill again, describing the reports as “absolutely untrue and only a wicked expectation that God has already defeated.”
This was contained in a statement by the First Lady’s spokesperson, Ayo Osinlu, while reacting to a report by the online news portal, Sahara Reporters, that the President’s wife was dropped from her husband’s delegation on scheduled state visits to Namibia and South Africa.
According to Osinlu, Mrs Jonathan is not under any obligation to accompany her husband on every foreign trip since she is not a government official and that the couple was at liberty to determine which trips they would make together.
He recalled that the President’s wife played active roles in the National Conference on 100 years of the Nigerian Woman, which she hosted as a component of the country’s centenary celebration in Lagos between April 18 and 19, this year.
He added that she also presided at the inauguration of the Nigerian Prisons Staff School, built in Abuja by the Prisons Officers’ Wives Association Last Friday.
Osinlu stated further that the President’s wife was already billed to be the keynote speaker at the scheduled ‘Religious, Traditional and Adolescents Leaders Conference’ in Sierra Leone next week, as part of the inauguration of the National Strategy for the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy.
He said it did not appear that someone on such a tight schedule could be experiencing deteriorating health or had been under close medical observation, as the report insinuated.
He said, “We wish to state emphatically that the report is absolutely untrue and a creation of the wicked expectations of Sahara Reporters and those who pay their bills.