President Goodluck Jonathan received unplanned medical treatment in London on Thursday after he “became indisposed” and was forced to miss a scheduled meeting of the Investors’ Council convened by Baroness Linda Chalker, his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati said in a statement.
“In the course of his ongoing visit to London for a meeting of Nigeria’s Honorary International Investors’ Council, President Goodluck Jonathan became indisposed and could not be present at the opening of the meeting today,” said Reuben Abati.
“President Jonathan has since been examined by competent medical practitioners. He has been advised to rest for a few days.”
Abati added in the statement that the president’s condition was “nothing serious and that the medical attention he has sought is only precautionary”.
Jonathan, who turned 56 on Wednesday, is not publicly known to be suffering from any serious medical conditions.
Participants at the Investor’s Council meeting at Hilton Hotel in London said they became worried when Jonathan failed to show up during a scheduled opening speech at the packed event paid for by the Nigerian government.
A presidency source however told our correspondent that there was heavy birthday party thrown to celebrate the President’s 56th birthday at his Presidential suite in the InterContinental Hotel in London that lasted till early this morning.
However, it could not be independently confirmed if the President’s sudden illness was a fall out of the birthday bash.
It would be recalled that last year in Addis Ababa, President Jonathan failed to show up to give his scheduled address at the 50th anniversary of the African Union.
On a previous visit to London, he also checked into a hospital.
Jonathan assumed the presidency in 2010 following the death of his predecessor Musa Yar’Adua, which suffered protracted illness, details of which were kept from the public and sparked a months-long political crisis.