The federal government said on Wednesday that it would not disclose the amount spent on President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent medical treatment in London, the United Kingdom.
Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), said disclosing medical expenses of the President was against national security and morals.
The minister he was not aware of anywhere in the world where the President was forced to divulge his medical bills, stressing that even the Freedom of Information Act excluded issues bothering on national security.
“This matter (the President’s medical bill) has come several times and our position on the matter is quite straight forward. What are the President’s conditions of service? What are his entitlements in terms of his wellbeing and health care? The state is supposed to take responsibility for these.
“We believe that asking for how much has been spent on the health of the President is an issue that we should weigh very well both for national security and also for moral issues. I don’t know why we must divulge such very sensitive information.
“I might be wrong but I don’t have experience else where that the President of any country will be ill and be forced to disclose how much the state has spent on his health. Yes, there is Freedom of Information Act but it is also carved in such a way that when such information is likely to endanger national security, I think it is an area that is not covered,” he said.
