The Senate has banned President Muhammadu Buhari from seeking medical treatment abroad.
The upper chamber gave the directive on Thursday when the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar, appeared before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, to defend the State House’s 2021 budget estimates.
In his presentation, Umar said that the State House budgeted N19.7bn for 2021, out of which N1.3bn was proposed for the State House Clinic.
Reacting, the Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Danjuma La’ah, queried why so much was budgeted for the State House Clinic when the president still embarks on foreign medical trips.
He said that rather than for this to continue, the government and State House officials must fix the State House Clinic to handle the president’s treatment.
La’ah (PDP – Kaduna South) said that though his committee would approve the budget estimates, the president and other senior officials must no longer be flown abroad for medical attention.
In an interaction with reporters after the budget defence, Umar promised to put modalities in place to ensure the medical needs of the president and other top officials are met at the State House Clinic once the budget was approved.