Jonathan visits UK

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday left Abuja for the United Kingdom in what the Presidency described as “a brief private visit.”Jonathan left the country shortly after worshipping at the Christ Apostolic Church, Area 1, Durumi, Abuja.According to a three-paragraph statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President was accompanied on the trip by some of his principal staff and personal aides.Abati did not name the presidential aides.He however said the President was expected back in the country on Monday.

     The statement read, “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan left Abuja this (Sunday) afternoon for a brief private visit to the United Kingdom.“The President was accompanied on the trip by some of his principal staff and personal aides.“He is expected back in Abuja tomorrow (Monday) ahead of official engagements at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, including scheduled audiences with groups from Delta and Lagos states.”It will be recalled that Jonathan had embarked on a similar private visits to Germany in December, 2013 and August, 2014.

    The trip to Germany in August then fuelled speculations that the President might have suddenly fallen ill, hence necessitating the journey.But Abati told our correspondent then that the media reports on Jonathan’s alleged ill-health was the figments of the writers’ imagination, adding that the President had the right to embark on private visits.It will also be recalled that Jonathan had in December last year embarked on a similar private visit to Germany, which many considered to be on health grounds.

    Abati had, at that time, issued a statement indicating that Jonathan would leave Abuja for Germany en-route to Paris, France, to participate in the Summit on Peace and Security in Africa.He had said the President would stop over in Germany for a private visit on his way to Paris and return to Abuja at the conclusion of the summit.The announcement of the private visit then came a few weeks after he fell sick in London, fuelling speculation that Jonathan might have decided to visit the same German hospital where his wife, Patience, sought medical attention for about seven weeks in 2012.Via.punch