“Where is our First Lady?” – ACN asks presidency

Leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described First Lady, Dame patience Jonathan’s ‘disappearance’ from the public scene as a national shame.

The party on Sunday called on the Presidency to tell the entire nation of the First lady’s whereabouts and her current health status.
According to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Nigerians had the right to know the whereabouts of the President’s wife who is also a serving secretary in Bayelsa State.

Mohammed said, “She is the First Lady and as such there are certain duties she performs. Her wellbeing, to a large extent, is also the wellbeing of the nation, especially these days when the office is not just a glamour office; it packs a lot of power and influence.

“When our First Lady disappears from the radar, so to say, for several weeks and nobody can tell us precisely where she is and what she is doing, I think it is a shame to the whole country.

“I do not see anything strange or undignifying in saying that ‘the First Lady had food poison, we are to fly her abroad for treatment and we will keep you informed of her daily welfare.’

“That will elicit a lot of support and Nigerians had shown in the past that irrespective of what they think about their leaders, when their leaders in the past had health problems, there was this outpouring of emotions.

“I think the handling of this matter is wrong and we must tell our information managers that ministers, governors and presidents and their wives are no longer the property of a small clique.

“They showed that they have no respect for us. I think whoever is in charge of managing information should come out today and tell Nigerians precisely where our First Lady is and what is wrong with her.”

While Patience is said to be hospitalised in a German hospital, the Presidency said “she was only away to take a ‘moment’s rest’ given that she has not taken a rest since President Jonathan’s election last year”.
Meanwhile authorities of the United Arab Emirates have denied that Patience got involved in food poisoning during her recent visit to Dubai as earlier reported in the media.

While some people hold that she was being treated for food poisoning, others believe she undertook surgery for ruptured appendicitis. Some others said she was operated upon for fibroid.

Assistant Director-General of Public Health, Safety and Environment Monitoring Sector, Salem bin Mesmar; and Director of the Food Control Department, Khalid Al Awadhi, said they are still in the dark about the allegation as no information of such had reached them yet.