President Muhammadu Buhari and members of his delegation to London, the United Kingdom (UK) will self-isolate in line with COVID-19 protocols, the government has announced.
Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, who confirmed this Sunday to Daily Trust on Sunday, said the measure became necessary after the lockdown of the Nigerian High Commission for 10 days in observation of UK COVID-19 regulations.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, while confirming this development, explained that the action is in observance of the guidelines by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
In addition to the President, all those who accompanied him on the trip did the mandatory PCR test on Friday and will follow it with the second test days later.
“Mr. President and all of those on his delegation will be isolated in line with NCDC guidelines for international travel.”
Those who accompanied him on the trip were Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno; and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director-General Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
On arrival at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in Abuja on Friday, the President was received by top government officials including Service Chiefs and senior aides led by Chief of Staff Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
President Buhari spent 18 days in London, having left Nigeria on July 26 and returned to Abuja on August 13. While in the UK, he attended the Global Education Summit on Financing Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2021-2025, and also had a medical check-up there.
The president also visited the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, in London.
Buhari’s visit to Tinubu was to show goodwill, following media reports on the APC leader’s health, Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Adesina debunked rumours that the visit was to show Buhari’s support for Tinubu, who has his eyes on the 2023 presidential election.
“We know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been in London about the same time the President was there. We don’t believe what we read on social media, but we have read a lot about Asiwaju Tinubu’s health, so the President’s visit was a goodwill visit,” Adesina said.
