President Muhammadu Buhari’s ear treatment in the United Kingdom, early June this year, cost Nigerian taxpayers about N20 million.
The Presidency disclosed this while reacting to claims in some quarters that the treatment cost upwards of 6 million pounds. In a statement uploaded on his Facebook page last Sunday, Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President, revealed that over 50,000 pounds was budgeted for the treatment but part of the money was returned. Going by Nigeria’s official exchange rate of 402.5 naira to a British pound, 50,000 pounds translates to over N20m.
This does not include travel expenses and estacode.
Garba’s exact words: “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 . . . that the whole treatment, including a follow-up visit by a specialist to Nigeria didn’t cost 50,000 pounds.
“For the records, the administration advanced a higher sum, but the President’s doctor returned the balance to the treasury.”
News Express reports that Buhari’s foreign trip to treat the ear infection had sparked national outrage, with Nigerians wondering if there are no qualified experts in the country to handle such an ailment and thus save the country a huge sum of money in these days of reduced oil revenue and depleting foreign reserves.
•Photo shows President Buhari.
