Buhari’s illness: Why president will not disclose his health status to Nigerians – presidency

The Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, on Wednesday said Buhari reserves the right to keep his health status private because some people despite being in, “public service are private people and they like to keep their personal lives out of the public domain.”
Onochie said this while describing those demanding that Buhari should disclose his health status as ignorant of the 1999 constitution.

In a statement on her Facebook, the Presidential aide said it is not mandatory for Buhari to disclose his health details, adding that “he’s not under any obligation to do so.”
Onochie also said it is wrong to compare the Buhari’s health situation with that of late President Musa Yar’Adua.
She wrote: “Every human being on earth, reserves his/her rights to Privacy. Not only in Nigeria but in every nation. That’s what separates us from animals.
“Some people in public service are private people in that they like to keep their personal lives out of the public domain. Others place their personal lives in the public domain for all to see. Its an individual choice.

“Since Pres. Buhari travelled on medical vacation, some people have been ignorantly calling on him to address the nation. But that’s because they do not understand the 1999 constitution. Having a leader who adheres to the provisions of our constitution, is new to all of us. That Pres. Buhari transmuted power to his Vice to become Acting President, is totally new to in our nation.
“Many of us are yet to fully understand what it means and its implications. Sadly, those who should be educating Nigerians on the full implication of the process, are quite happy to cry louder, in ignorance than the protest merchants.
“We will all learn. Some of us, faster, some slower. Like Alledeh guy or whatever he’s called, whose experience of politics has been PDP and nothing else.

“But mischief makers, never. This inability to accept this positive change is the reason we find ignorant, confused and uneducated people comparing cotton and silk.

“In the case of Late Pres. YarAdua, the National Assembly was not informed nor were the people Nigeria informed that he was going on a medical leave. He also DID NOT hand over to his Vice. So, he took the power to run Nigeria with him. That is NOT the case today as ignoramuses would have you believe.
“During the slap and spit on our constitution by PDP’s Pres. YarAdua, the then General Buhari, a man of integrity who had and still has the utmost respect for our laws and our constitution, joined other well-meaning Nigerians to call on Pres. YarAdua to order.
“Ronald Reagan as President of America, had colon cancer. He never disclosed it. Americans did not know about it. Neither did they hold him down by the throat to tell them what ailed him. That was his personal grief to deal with. It was part of his life he CHOSE to make private. And Americans respected his rights to Privacy. Yes they did.
“Barrenness is an illness that doctors treat. The British people are not holding down Mrs. Theresa May to declare why she cannot have children or to state the status of her husband’s sperm count. No! She chose to tell them about her struggles with Diabetes. But the other health issues, she CHOSE to keep private.
“If leaders cannot exercise a degree of privacy, then, we must demand access to their bedrooms so we all are acquainted with how they relate with their wives and husbands.

“It’s a personal choice individual leaders would make. If President Buhari decides to publish the details of his health records, it would be his personal decision to do so. But It’s not mandatory and he’s not under any obligation to do so.”