Buhari Yet To Return To Main Office After Three-Month ‘Renovation’

The mystery surrounding President Muhammadu Buhari’s delay to return to his
main office three months after it was renovated grows deeper every week.

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The president resumed work on August 22, 2017 after returning from his medical
vacation in London and was expected to go to the main office but he did not.

He began work at his official residence instead, and the presidency claimed that
renovation was ongoing at his main office inside the Presidential Villa.

Three months after he returned, he is yet to return to the main office used by his
predecessors.
Inside sources believe the president is avoiding the main office, a development that
may continue for the rest of this administration’s lifespan.

It is not clear why he is staying away from the office but sources within the
Presidential Villa have attributed it to some mysterious circumstances surrounding
the office.

According to some of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, they
could not understand why the president preferred to still function from the small
office in his residence.

They also said if the president had his way he would not hesitate to erect another
structure which he would use as his new office.

Beyond this, it was discovered that the president attended some official events
inside the conference room adjacent his main office, but has never been captured
on camera receiving high profile guests in the main office since he returned from
London.

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Observers have tried to guess, saying he attended to official assignments in the
conference room because it looked more spacious and could accommodate more
than 20 persons at a time.

Buhari resumed duties soon after he had given a state broadcast to the nation,
thanking Nigerians for the support and prayers rendered on his behalf all through
the trying period he was incapacitated.

On the day he started working from home, he had also written the National
Assembly to intimate them of his resumption.
The president first left the country on January 19, 2017, after transmitting power to
his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo.

He returned to the country on March 10, 2017, after 51 days of medical vacation.
He then proceeded again on May 7, 2017 and returned to the country on Saturday,
August 19, 2017, after he had spent over one hundred days in the same London
hospital.

His coming back was heralded by massive jubilation, particularly amongst key
stakeholders serving in his government.

In the early weeks after the president resumed duties, a presidential source had said
the president would be working from home pending a minor renovation work at his
office.

The source had also given a tentative three-month time frame for the renovation
work to last, but Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,

Garba Shehu, had contradicted the initial claims in a bid to explain why the
president would be working from home.

He had said that the president's office needed to be fumigated as rats were
discovered to have tampered with some of the wires inside the office.
His explanation, unfortunately, went viral prompting reactions from a number of
critics.

But since the president resumed, only minor renovation works were observed to
have been carried out by the main contracting firm in the villa, Julius Berger
Nigeria Limited, which handles all maintenance work within the villa, according to
presidency source who spoke on phone with INDEPENDENT.

When news went viral that the president would be returning to the country, the
maintenance firm had been observed adjusting some of the interlocking tiles
leading to the administrative building of the villa, the source noted.

It was also observed that the adjustments of the tiles were to facilitate easy
movement for visitors who were handicapped and may need to be assisted or
brought in, in a wheelchair.

Soon after that, some expatriates attached to the same Julius Berger were spotted
going into the office area to effect some repair works, the source told
INDEPENDENT.

Some tile adjustments were also done on the way to the council chambers where
the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting usually holds.

Prior to this development, it was alleged that previous heads of state were in the
habit of doing spiritual cleansing before operating from that office.