A former spokesperson for the late President Muhammadu, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday defended his late principal’s frequent medical trips abroad while in office, stating he could have died long ago if he relied on Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Mr Adesina spoke during an interview on Channels Television.

He said, “If he had said ‘I will do my medicals in Nigeria’ just as a show-off or something, he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country.’’

The former presidential aide maintained that Mr. Buhari, who died in a London hospital on Sunday, needed the medical trips to stay alive and develop Nigeria’s health system.

He stated, “But he needed to be alive to be able to lead the country to a point when we will have that expertise.”

Mr Adesina, however, disclosed that his late boss had always assessed medical care abroad.

He added, “He always had his medicals in London even when he was not in office. It was not about the time he was president alone. He always had it in London. You have to be alive to get certain things changed or corrected in your country.”

In 2016, before his first medical trip after he assumed office as president, Mr Buhari’s administration condemned medical tourism.

In a statement, the health  ministry had said, “While this administration will not deny anyone of his or her fundamental human rights, we will certainly not encourage expending Nigerian hard-earned resources on any government official seeking medical care abroad, when such can be handled in Nigeria.”

However, during his two terms of eight years as President, Mr Buhari spent over 225 days on medical tourism in London, a development many Nigerians condemned.