Femi Adesina, former media aide to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that Buhari might not have lived as long as he did if he had stuck to the medical treatment available in the country.
Adesina spoke in a special live programme on Channels Television as part of the tribute paid to the late former president on Tuesday.
The long-time supporter and aide of Buhari insisted that his principal’s frequent medical visits to the United Kingdom during his presidency were a matter of survival rather than choice.
He explained that Buhari had always had his medicals in London long before he was voted in as president of Nigeria.
Adesina said the UK doctors had his medical records. He said it was impractical to switch medical teams during ongoing care.
The media aide also said there was the issue of expertise and the shortcomings of Nigeria’s healthcare system at the time.
According to him, one needs to be alive first to correct what is wrong in the country. He remarked that if Buhari had insisted on using local doctors as a show of patriotism, “he could have long been dead”.
Adesina, who was a former editor of the Sun newspaper, said Buhari’s recovery and capacity to govern were dependent on the quality of medical care he received abroad.
The former editor said Buhari was not extravagant and would have gladly used local expertise if it were available at the time he needed it.
It would be recalled that former president Muhammadu Buhari died in a hospital in London, United Kingdom, after a brief illness on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
He was buried in his residence in Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday, July 15.
