Femi Adesina, a former presidential spokesman to late president Muhammadu Buhari, has stated that the former president could have died long dead for a long time if he had visited Nigerian hospitals.
Adesina urged critics of Buhari’s death in a London hospital should know that the former president had been using London hospitals before he was elected president in May 2015.
He added that medical doctors in the United Kingdom were aware of his principal’s medical history and there was no need to change them.
According to him, some hospitals in Nigeria are deficient in the facilities and professionalism needed for Buhari’s treatment.
“Buhari always had his medicals in London, even when he was not in the office. So it was not about the time he was president alone. He had always had it there.
“One has to be alive first to get certain things corrected or changed in the country. If Buhari had said he would do his medicals here as a show of patriotism or something, he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country,” Adesina said while speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday.
Buhari’s body leaves London
Meanwhile, ahead of a state burial in honour of Buhari, his remains has left London, United Kingdom, for Daura, Katsina State.
Buahri’s body was conveyed on a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) craft.
He died in London at the age of 82 on Sunday, July 13, 2025, after receiving treatment for many weeks in London.
His spokesperson, Garba Shehu, announced the news of his death.
Born in Daura, Katsina State, Buhari first led Nigeria as a military ruler from January 1984 to August 1985. After the return to civilian rule in 1999, he ran for president three times unsuccessfully—in 2003, 2007, and 2011.
