Buhari returns to Nigeria today

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to return to the country later on Saturday after spending more than 100 hundred days in London receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment, his spokesman said.

He is expected to speak to “Nigerians in a broadcast by 7 a.m on Monday, August 21, 2017,” his media adviser Femi Adesina said in a statement.

The president left Nigeria on May 7 for London for a second of treatment for an undisclosed ailment, transferring power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to lead the most populous African country.

He had earlier left Nigeria on January 19 for London to “undergo routine medical check-ups” during a short holiday. He only returned on March 10 after an extended period of medical treatment.

He tacitly acknowledged that he was very ill, telling his cabinet members that “I couldn’t recall being so sick since I was a young man.” He also said he had “blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and so forth”.

His absence in Nigeria since May 7 has birthed rounds of protests and calls for him to resign. But much like his aides, Buhari has consistently said he would only return to Nigeria on the instruction of his doctors.

“I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge. I’ve now learnt to obey orders, rather than be obeyed,” he told his aides on Saturday, his spokesman Femi Adesina said in an earlier statement.