BREAKING: Senate Stops Buhari, Other From Foreign Medical Trips

The Senate on Thursday told State House officials to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from foreign trips for medical treatment.

According to the senate, the decision was taken in order to ensure the State House clinic becomes functional.

The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs gave the warning when the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar, appeared before the panel to defend his 2021 budget estimates.

The State House official had presented a budget of N19.7bn for 2021, out of which N1.3bn was proposed for the State House Clinic.

The Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Danjuma La’ah, when reacting to the proposal, said the committee would approve the budget for the State House Clinic but insisted that the President and other senior officials of his government should no longer be flown abroad for medical treatment.

In an interview with pressmen after defending his budget, the Permanent Secretary vowed to put necessary arrangements in place to meet the medical requirements of the President and other top officials once the budget was approved.

His words, “We have appealed to the committee to assist us with the presidential wing of the State House Clinic.

“The N1.3bn is absolutely inadequate when you juxtapose the amount proposed, the labour, and the status of the principals that the project is going to serve.

“When compared with worldwide standards you see that it is not anything near what we need.

“It (the clinic), is considered a legacy project for us because we want to leave something down.

“It is not correct to say the state house clinic is in comatose. It is not.”

PUNCH