Amid endemic petrol scarcity, ASUU strike, Buhari returns to London for medicals

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday resurrected his trip to London, United Kingdom, for a two-week medical holiday, amid continued scarcity of petrol, university lecturers strike and myriad of other national issues.

Nigeria has been plagued by shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol or fuel, since January, initially blamed on the withdrawal of adulterated products imported by the nation’s oil majors including a subsidiary of the state-owned NNPC Limited, Duke Oil.

However, as the petrol crisis persisted, the NNPC management shifted the blame for scarcity to the two-week-old Russian-Ukraine war, which it claimed had compounded logistic issues, as Nigeria, a leading oil producing country, depends solely on imported petroleum products to meet local demands.

In the same vein, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has remained adamant, refusing to go back to the classrooms, following intractable unresolved issues in agreement it earlier reached with government.

ASUU had declared a “comprehensive and total” strike, since February 14, 2022, to press home their demands.

RELIABLESOURCENG.COM The president who was earlier scheduled to travel to London at the end of his official visit to Nairobi, Kenya, had to return to Nigeria, surprisingly.

READ: Buhari surprisingly returns to Nigeria, reschedules London medical trip

Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said Buhari had to come back to Abuja, because he concluded his assignment in Kenya, ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, the president while flying out of Abuja on Sunday, told journalists at the airport that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will preside over the nation’s affairs for two weeks while he is away on a medical trip to London.

“Well, I cannot claim to be doing the work alone. The government is fully represented; the vice president is there; constitutionally when I’m away, he’s in charge,” Buhari told the inquisitive news reporters, who had sought to know who the president was leaving the country in charge.

He added that he was not running the administration alone as other key officials including the vice president, the chief of staff, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), and others were carried along.

The president also spoke about the forthcoming national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), expressing confidence that the event would be conducted smoothly. “Well, they should wait and see. How did we come as a party to take power from the ruling party who had been there before us for so many years? So, we have the capacity, everything will be alright,” he said.