Exclusive: Buhari Has Difficulty Drinking And Eating, But Cabal Won't Let Him Travel For Urgent Treatment

Three insiders in the Presidency have told SaharaReporters that President Muhammadu Buhari is being fed intravenously as he has had severe difficulty eating and drinking fluids for several days.

The sources also disclosed that, although President Buhari's health had held up for a while after his return from an extended medical vacation in the United Kingdom, his condition has deteriorated in the last several weeks. They pointed to Mr. Buhari's eating and drinking problems that have left him too frail to leave his official residence at Aso Rock Villa to attend any official functions.

Mr. Buhari has been unable to attend the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting three weeks in a row. Last week he also failed to attend the Friday Juma'at prayers because he had to undergo urgent medical treatment that had him confined to a medical room secretly set up inside the residential area of the villa.

President Buhari was also conspicuously absent from the wedding of his influential personal aide, Tunde "Idiagbon" Sabiu in Kaduna. The wedding, which was attended by political movers and shakers of the Nigerian society, became a scene for curious political power play. It became clear at the wedding that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was treated in a different light by opposing political interests present at the wedding. While some of them showed deference to Mr. Osinbajo, others seemed to pay him scant attention, even to the point of shunning his presence.

SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Buhari's British doctors had sent a medical team to the Villa to attend to him. However, our sources revealed that the medical team advised that the president should immediately return to the United Kingdom to begin what they described as a slow, complex and long-term treatment that could prolong his life.

Four weeks ago, SaharaReporters disclosed that an advance team from the Presidency traveled to the UK to prepare for Mr. Buhari's imminent arrival there for medical treatment. However, following moves by a cabal opposed to their potential loss of political influence, the advance was recalled to Abuja. Our sources named Chief of Staff Abba Kyari as the anchor of the cabal which also includes Mamman Daura, a businessman, and Mr. Buhari's kinsman.

A week later, members of the Presidency's advance team were once again issued with fresh tickets to travel via Ethiopian Airlines, with the plan that Mr. Buhari would depart to the UK on April 15th 2017 for a four-month-long medical sojourn.

However, members of the cabal that wields enormous power in the Presidency, have so far frustrated the president's trip.

The Nigerian president and his handlers have declined to reveal the nature of the ailment that has hobbled Mr. Buhari over several months, rendering him incapable of attending to matters of state with any regularity much less vigor. However, different sources close to him told Saharareporters that, in addition to prostrate issues, Mr. Buhari is also dogged by Crohn’s disease, a medical condition that has affected his digestive system.

Our various sources have said that Mr. Buhari's Crohn's disease has had a devastating impact because of the president's age. One source stated that Mr. Buhari, whose official age is 74, may well be much older. At any rate, his bouts of illness have had a telling effect on him, leaving him gaunt, emaciated, feeble and debilitated.

One of our sources knowledgeable about President Buhari's condition alleged that there was a massive coverup orchestrated by a few aides and cronies of the ailing Nigerian leader to fool the Nigerian public. "They feel that if he [President Buhari] travels abroad, they will lose the power and influence they wield when he is town," the source said. However, the source accused the cabal of being myopic and shortsighted, adding that they were fast-tracking the president's demise by blocking his trip for treatment abroad.

Our sources described the cabal as hellbent on throwing Nigeria into a political crisis in a bid to protect their selfish interests.