The Presidency has firmly debunked reports suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is critically ill and preparing to leave Nigeria for urgent medical treatment.
The clarification follows a publication by the Nigerian Institute for Investigative Journalism (NIIJ) last week, which, citing unnamed sources, alleged that the President’s medical team was arranging an emergency evacuation abroad. The report also claimed President Tinubu had been bedridden, prompting Vice President Kashim Shettima to take over official engagements and resulting in the cancellation of some presidential activities.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa on Monday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, AbdulAziz AbdulAziz, dismissed the allegations as entirely false.
“There is no truth in these statements. He is still in office,” AbdulAziz stated.
Speculations about the President’s health intensified after his absence at the August 3 ceremony celebrating Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, where Vice President Shettima represented him. Tinubu’s last public appearance was on August 1, when he opened the Summit on Journalism for National Development.
Before that, he hosted a reception in honour of the Super Falcons following their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph in Morocco.
The Presidency has maintained that President Tinubu remains fully committed to his official duties, describing the health rumours as unfounded and politically motivated.
