Nigerians hoping that President Muhammadu Buhari would hit the ground running to cover for his 103 days absence from office, may have to wait for a while as will be working from home, according to a source at the presidency. Buhari, resumed today after transmitting the resumption letter to the Senate president and Speaker of House of Representatives respectively.Buhari was captured on camera at about 11am signing copies of letters to be forwarded to the Senate and House of Representatives.
The source who preferred to remain anonymous said the president took the decision to work from home because of renovation works in his office.
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President who witnessed the signing formalities,confirmed to State House Correspondents about the president’s resumption.
He said,”yes some few minutes past 11am the President signed the letter notifying the National Assembly of his resumption of duties, a copy has been sent to the President of the Senate and Speaker House of Representatives, so the President has resumed duties.
Adesina had said on the Channels Tevevion Sunrise this morning that the law only requires the president to transmit as it does not require the National Assembly to deliberate on it before the president resumes office
Asked how his resumption will impact on Nigerians,the Presidential spokesman said “it means that the President they voted into office who has been serving them and who was indisposed for sometime and who came back on Saturday is ready to resume with the work he has been doing”.
Adesina also reacted to insinuations that the President’s national broadcast may not have been explicit enough.
In his response, he said what the President read out to Nigerians was only a fraction of steps expected to be taken by his administration in the coming days,weeks and months ahead.
Adesina said,”that broadcast was just one step of many steps that are going to be taken in the days and weeks and months ahead so you can’t expect that everything will be said in one day.
The letter stated in part: “In compliance with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), I write to intimate that I have resumed my functions as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with effect from Monday, 21st August, 2017, after my medical follow-up in the United Kingdom.”
President Buhari had left for London on May 7, 2017, after handing over the reins of government to the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who functioned as the Acting President.
