Quiet at APC secretariat over Buhari’s return

Ordinarily, the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from his 49 days medical vacation in the United Kingdom should elicit great excitement from members of his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the contrary seemed to be the case at its National Secretariat located on Blantyre Street Wuse II, Abuja, yesterday.

Save for the statement issued by the party welcoming the President back from his leave, its secretariat remained largely quiet at press time, with a handful of staff discussing the President’s arrival in hushed tones, with some of them divided on the issue.

While some questioned the rationale behind the rush to bring him back when it was obvious that he was not fit enough to resume work, others saw the development as part of the strategy by the cabal in the Presidency to checkmate the ‘rising’ profile of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has been Acting President since Buhari left for his vacation on January 19.

The APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, welcomed Buhari back to the country.

While the party believed he has rested and returned with new vigour and optimism to fix the challenges facing the people and fulfill its campaign promises to Nigerians during the 2015 elections, it acknowledged that the President himself confirmed that he needed to rest more and directed Osinbajo to continue to run the country on his behalf.