Last night's secretive and rather abrupt trip to
London by Nigeria President-Elect Muhammadu
Buhari caught several of his political associates
unawares, several of them learning about it only
when we broke the story.
Asked if the President-Elect had any health issues
that may have required urgent travel overnight, they
insisted he appears to be healthy.
Meanwhile, sources have told SaharaReporters that
the efforts by the Minister of Petroleum Resources,
Diezani Alison-Madueke, to speak with Buhari
aboard the British Airways aircraft failed abysmally
as the President-Elect only greeted her during the
boarding process and then quietly settled
into his seat 2K in First Class. The embattled
Minister, SaharaReporters learnt, had somehow
booked herself into seat 3K, seating directly behind
Buhari on the six-hour flight.
Our sources said she rose up a few times and tried
to stir up a conversation with the President-Elect,
but that he only nodded and let her get back to her
seat without permitting any dialogue. The flight
arrived Heathrow in London at 2:15p.m. local time,
but the passengers didn't disembark until 2:45pm
due to delays at the airport.
Other Nigerian dignitaries in the First Class
compartment of the flight included the chairperson
of the National Electricity Commission, Sam Amadi,
as well as Senator Philip Adida, Segun Awolowo, and
Hakeem Bello-Osagie, who sat in 4K directly behind
Diezani.
When the airline crew announced passenger
disembarkation, Buhari asked if Diezani had any of
her bags in the overheard compartment so he could
step out of her way. It then turned out she had
occupied the entire overheard compartments with
several of her carry-on bags, traveled with two of
her aides also in First Class. Buhari was reportedly
traveling with only one aide.
The Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Dalhatu
Sarki Tafida, met Buhari at the airport.
As SaharaReporters reported earlier, Minister Alison-
Madueke was originally scheduled to travel to the UK
next Tuesday as she is billed to address the Nigerian
Senate on Monday regarding the fuel scarcity crisis.
Our source disclosed that upon learning of Mr.
Buhari's trip, she booked herself on the same flight
in the hope of an opportunity of a direct discussion
with the man who takes over the governance of
Nigeria one week from today. Her Ministry, reputed
as being one of the most corrupt, is likely to be
among the first to come under Buhari's scrutiny.
Source: Saharareporters.com
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