Last Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari proceeded on a ten-day private visit  to the UK as disclosed by his media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina who also informed the nation, and in deed the world that  the president would pay official visit to Maiduguri from where he would proceed to the UK. He equally added that the President Buhari would return to Nigeria on May 5.

This trip is a harmless one and not unusual for Presidents all over the world. But the furor it has generated calls for worry and one wonders why some persons have chosen to make the kind of comments  that seem to suggest that Mr President has committed an offence. As expected the Peoples Democratic Party and the Coalition of United Political Parties led the pack, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to disclose his reason for embarking on a 10-day trip to the United Kingdom. They said it was wrong for the President to embark on a journey without telling Nigerians what he would do while away. But the man said he was embarking on a private trip, what more do the opposition want?

The President, paid  an official visit to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Thursday,  he was in Lagos State and several others after the elections commissioning projects of the APC-led government.

In my opinion, President Buhari has not breached the constitution or broken any laws of the land. His deputy, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting where the Federal Government approved N52bn for the electronic monitoring of Nigeria’s borders with neighbouring countries as required by the grand norm.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, often usurps the position of his party’s spokesperson as he  said it was improper for the President to travel with public funds but fail to “disclose his movements.” This is untrue as Mr President disclosed his movement which is that he is on a private visit to the United Kingdom.

In its reaction, the CUPP said the trip had proved that the country had been on autopilot since President Buhari  assumed office just because the President is on a private visit to the UK.

The coalition’s national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, said since his trips were funded with taxpayers’ money, the President should disclose the reason for his latest travel instead of tagging it a private visit.

He went further to state that  “If he is going for regular medicals, he should be bold enough to tell us. If he is going on holiday, he should also tell us because his trips are funded with taxpayers’ money.

It is unfortunate that this is the dummy being sold and bought by contrived minds across the country. Do these people know that if Mr. President is travelling to the UK for medical treatment, he will tell Nigerians? He has always told Nigerians whenever he is travelling on a medical trip. So this time is a private visit, so we should not crucify him. Rather, we should accept his reason he gave for his travel. It also means, he can be working from the UK because we currently live in a globalized world. We live in an era of technology. The president can transmit an instruction from the UK and it will be obeyed that is what digitalized democracy is all about. Mr President does not have to remain in Aso Rock 24/7 to be a responsible president of Nigeria…. No. Nigerians should understand that a private visit is a private visit an official visit is an official visit and President Buhari did not start private visit amongst presidents across the world.

What about former President Olusegun Obasanjo? On November 2, 2001, President Obasanjo was in USA on a private visit and visited President Bush. Same Obasanjo on June 20, 2002 again visited President Bush on a private visit.

Also, Fernando Belaúnde Terry was a Peruvian politician who served as the 57th and 60th President of Peru. Deposed by a military coup in 1968, he was re-elected in 1980 after twelve years of military rule. He was recognized for his personal integrity and his commitment to the democratic process. Between September 25-27, 1984 he was on a private visit to the USA where he met with President Reagan on September 27.

President Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique also a Peruvian President who served as the 63rd President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006 was in the USA from July 9–12, 2006 and met with President Bush privately. These are precedents and nationals of Peru did not make any fuss around their Presidents private travels. Nobody made any hoot when Obasanjo made all his private travels. Why then the ado about Buhari when he makes one?

Shockingly, even people who ought to know more are the ones shouting the loudest. The likes of Femi Falana. I watched him on a national television saying the President ought to have transmitted power to Osinbanjo when he has to travel on a private visit. Unfortunately, he did not support his argument with any section of the Nigerian constitution or any law of the land for that matter. His outburst was misleading because these are very important and respected legal luminaries that even the future generation looks unto for guidance.

The PDP must know that it is just an opposition party and not an alternative government. The PDP has a number of international issues to worry themselves about and as such should stop telling the APC how it should govern the country. We have just finished an election, if the PDP was a better option, Nigerians would have voted them in. But the lost and they are now proving themselves as bad losers and I will not wish that respected Nigerians, like Femi Falana should join the PDP in this mess of unnecessary attack on Mr. President over a private visit.

President Buhari is already completing his first four years and has done well in the fight against corruption and bad governance. Now that he is re-elected, he will do much more. Construction of roads are going on across the country without any noise by the APC.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in spite of his short comings remains the best option for Nigeria. Nigerians, filed out in their large numbers to cast their  votes for the man widely  known as  Mr. integrity. We refused to   allow ourselves to be fooled by the PDP  that took Nigerians for a ride for 16 years. Those years remain locust years in the annals of Nigerian history. They were busy amassing  wealth and compromising the nation. This was why the electorates rejected them at the polls  last February.

Nigerians refused to return back to their vomits and hopefully avoided fresh lamentations post 2019 polls. Nigeria is where we are today because of the shameless PDP leaders that threw caution to the winds while hemorrhaging the nation. They cannot be trusted any time any day.  When they now come out and want to heat up the polity because of President Buhari’s private visit to the UK, Nigerians should not join them, rather, Nigerians should understand why they are making noise over nothing. President Buhari will return on May 5 as he has promised and Nigerians should maintain the trust for President Buhari and the APC.

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Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State