The Nigerian Senate on Thursday asked the State House officials to restrain President Muhammadu Buhari from foreign trips for medical treatment.
The request was made in order to ensure the State House clinic becomes functional this year.
The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs gave the order when the State House Permanent Secretary, Tijani Umar, appeared before the panel to defend his 2021 budget estimates.
Reports said the State House official had presented a budget of N19.7bn for 2021, out of which N1.3bn was proposed for the State House Clinic.
The Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Danjuma La’ah, in reaction to the proposal, said the committee would approve the budget for the State House Clinic but insisted that the President and other top officials of his government should no longer be flown abroad for medical treatment.
The Permanent Secretary, during a chat with journalists after defending his budget, promised to put necessary arrangements in place to meet the medical needs of the President and other top officials once the budget was approved.
