Had Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicty, recognized that President Muhammadu Buhari can be returning to the UK very quickly on medical grounds, he would have been extra circumspect in his response to enquiries concerning the President's 'sudden disappearance' from the United States after an official go to headlined by a joint press convention with President Donald Trump.
Buhari's take-off from the United States on Tuesday had been posted on Twitter by Bashir Ahmad, considered one of his social-media aides. However, when the President nonetheless hadn't been seen by Thursday afternoon — two days after departure from the United States — the Presidency discovered itself fielding a number of questions from journalists.
Shehu, saddled with the accountability of offering solutions, said thus: "I'm positive for those who hold your ears to the bottom, you'll hear of his arrival quickly,” he had stated.
“The large jet is below restore. It has been taken for main repairs. So the President is utilizing a small aircraft and there's a restrict to the space the small aircraft can cowl.
“So the technical stopover I talked about is that the journey from US to Abuja is damaged into two. Technical stopover is that the aircraft stops at a degree, refuels, does some checks after which proceeds on the journey.
“This may be very regular. There is nothing uncommon about it. In any case, they're already on their method again residence. It is a routine factor. The aircraft can do Abuja-Washington, that’s about 12 hours and the utmost the aircraft can fly is 12 hours, 40 minutes. But you don’t have to push it to the sting."
How ironical it's that when it was time for Buhari to announce the right four-day medical journey to the UK, the responsibilty fell not on Femi Adesina however on Garba Shehu.
"President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow, Tuesday undertake a four-day journey to the United Kingdom," he posted on Twitter this time.
"In the course of the technical stop-over for plane upkeep in London on his method again from Washington final week, the President had a gathering along with his physician. The Doctor requested the President to return for a gathering which he agreed to do.
"President Muhammadu Buhari will return on Saturday, May 12th. On his return, the President’s two-day State Visit to Jigawa, which was postponed due to the All Progressives Congress, APC’s Ward Congresses, will now happen on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th May."
This time Shehu merely needed to say the reality. Four full days within the UK would have confirmed too lengthy for one more "technical stopover".