Nigerian First Lady not ill, she’s resting abroad – Presidency

[emezico]

There was confusion on Monday over the trip of President Goodluck Jonathan's wife, Patience, to Germany.

An online portal, Saharareporters, had reported on Sunday that the wife of the President was being treated for "food poisoning" which she contracted during a visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirate 11 days ago.

However, the Presidency, in its reaction on Monday, denied that Mrs Jonathan had been hospitalised for food poisoning.

Her spokesman, Ayo Osinlu, confirmed that she had travelled out of the country but denied the rumoured illness. Osinlu said the President's wife travelled out of the country to take a "moment's rest". He, however, did not disclose Mrs Jonathan's whereabouts.

"If you look at her itinerary in August, you would be wondering how she was able to accomplish that. In the course of this week, she will be back home. But remember, it all depends on her plans," he said.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, who also spoke on the matter, dismissed Mrs Jonathan's widely reported illness as a rumour.

Abati insisted that the story "was a rumour and there is nothing like that".

In its report, Saharareporters had revealed that an air ambulance airlifted the President's wife to Wisbanden in Germany for emergency medical attention. It added that Patience had been undergoing treatment for about four days.

The United States-based Nigerian news portal quoted an unnamed source in the Presidency as saying that Mrs. Jonathan travelled to Dubai after the African First Ladies Summit in Abuja.

It also quoted sources in the Presidency as saying that the "emergency airlift departed for Wiesbaden, Germany" but could not confirm if "her treatment was being undertaken in that city."

A national newspaper on Monday had reported that Mrs. Jonathan was being treated at a hospital called Horst Schmidt Klinik in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Horst Schmidt Klinik is where the late President Umaru Yar'Adua was hospitalised for kidney-related ailments. However, The PUNCH could not confirm on Monday if Mrs Jonathan was indeed in the hospital.

Meanwhile, an aide of the President, who pleaded anonymity, said on Monday that the President had ordered the first couple's media aides to find a way to inform Nigerians about his wife's trip and health.

It was learnt that Jonathan handed over the directive following the concerns raised over his wife's alleged ailment.

He was said to have told his media team to liaise with his wife's media team and agree on how to tell Nigerians what really transpired.

Following this directive, Abati and Osinlu met. Osinlu later told The PUNCH that they decided to speak on the issue "in order to save ourselves of the stress of responding to the widespread enquiries from our friends in the media one-by-one."

He also said that the report that Patience was airlifted to a German hospital by an air ambulance was not true.

But he promised sending a statement which at the time of filing this report at 9pm, he had not sent.

[emezico]