Femi Adesina, former presidential spokesman, has said that late President Muhammadu Buhari might not have lived as long as he did if he had relied on Nigerian hospitals for medical care.
Speaking on Tuesday during a Channels Television special broadcast covering Buhari’s funeral, Adesina defended the late president’s long-standing preference for medical treatment in London, insisting it was not a political decision but one rooted in survival.
“If he had said, ‘I’d do my medicals in Nigeria just for show-off,’ he could have long been dead,” Adesina said, explaining that UK doctors were already familiar with Buhari’s medical history even before his presidency.
Buhari, who died on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 82 in a London hospital, had battled a prolonged illness. His remains were buried on Tuesday in Daura, Katsina State, following a public holiday declared by the Federal Government in his honour.
Adesina dismissed criticisms over Buhari’s decision to seek medical care abroad, noting that many Nigerian hospitals lack the facilities and expertise needed to manage his health condition.
He said Buhari had always used foreign medical services even before assuming office in 2015, and changing doctors later in life would have been unwise.
“You have to be alive first to fix things at home. There may not have been the required expertise in Nigeria,” Adesina argued, adding that Buhari’s priority was to stay alive and lead the country toward improvement in the health sector.
The government has also ordered national flags to fly at half-mast throughout the seven-day mourning period for the former president.
























