The controversy over the lack of communication between President Muhammadu Buhari and Femi Adesina, his spokesman, may finally be over, as both men had a telephone conversation on Saturday.
Adesina had come under attack after saying he had not spoken with the president since he left the country.
Responding to the criticisms which trailed him, the presidential spokesman, had said people wanted to be lied to, but that he would continue to speak the truth.
However, on Saturday, Adesina revealed that Buhari called him at exactly 2:43pm.
“At exactly 2:43pm today, Saturday, February 25, 2017, my phone rang. Who was at the other end? Tunde Sabiu, personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari,” Adesina wrote on Facebook.
“’Hold on for Mr President’, Tunde said.
And in a matter of seconds, the very familiar voice came:
“’Femi, how are you? (He calls me Adesina most times, but today, he opted for Femi).”
Adesina said he screamed when he heard the voice of his principal.
“I screamed :”Mr President, I have missed you. How are you sir?,” Adesina wrote.
“He first laughed. That familiar laugh. Then he said: ‘I am still resting. Thank you for holding out against mischief makers’.
“I said it was my duty, the very least I could do, adding how happy I was to speak with him.
‘How is your family?’
“I said we were fine, and he asked me to extend his greetings to them.
“‘I hope to call you again, ” Mr President said, and I bade him farewell, adding: ‘Best wishes, sir’.”
Adesina added that the call made his day, saying he never sought to speak with the president to debunk rumours about his health.
“It was a defining moment for me. For more than a month, I had always spoken with aides who are with the president in London,” he wrote.
“Not once did I ask them to take the phone to him, deliberately so, because I didn’t need to speak with him to validate the fact that he was alive. And since he was on vacation, he had a right to his privacy.
“Of his own volition, President Buhari spoke with me. It made my day. Even if he hadn’t done so, he would have remained my President, my leader, and my man. Any day.”
Buhari left for UK on January 19, and was expected back in the country on February 5, but he extended his vacation indefinitely, citing medical reasons.
He has recieved a number of top politicians at his London base, and also spoken with some persons through telephone.
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