Could the President have spent N20.5m to treat ear infection?

Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the President did not spend up to £50,000 (N20.5million) on his ear treatment.

Professor Farooq Kperogi, analyst and US-based educationist, was said to have posted on his Facebook wall that President Buhari’s ear infection treatment in the United Kingdom cost a whopping £6million. A claim, Kperogi had denied.

But Mallam Shehu, responding to that claim on his Facebook wall, was not comfortable to disclose the exact amount the President spent to treat the ear infection.

He only said, “The disclosure on Prof. Farooq Kperogi’s wall that President Muhammadu Buhari’s ear treatment in the United Kingdom cost a whopping £6million pounds must have shocked many of the respected scholar’s followers…

“Given the austere president we have, Muhammadu Buhari would not have approved this amount if he was shown a six million Pounds bill. I won’t be surprised if the President may have asked if the fat bill was for the purchase of a brand new pair of ears!

“I’m prepared to share documents with Farooq, one of the brightest ever produced from the Bayero University Kano (BUK) that the whole treatment, including a follow-up visit by a specialist to Nigeria didn’t cost 50,000 pounds.

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“For the records, the administration advanced a higher sum, but the President’s doctor returned the balance to the treasury. Indeed, it’s a New Day, and President Buhari’s change mantra is real. Let no one confuse my fellow countrymen and women.”

Mallam Shehu indirectly mocked Dame Patience Jonathan, former First Lady and wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who claimed that the $15m, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), found in some company accounts was for her medical treatment.

“The story reads like an incredible tale by moonlight that belongs to a different era, which fortunately is now history. That’s when a fortunate lady saved USD15 million for medical treatment!” he mocked.

By Ebere Ndukwu …

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