In a bid to ascertain the health fitness of future Nigerian presidents , the Nigerian Medical Association and the Commonwealth Medical Association have said presidential candidates should henceforth be made to undergo compulsory health tests before elections .
This , they said , would help reveal the health status of presidential aspirants starting from next year ’ s elections .
The medical associations also said they would love to be involved in assessing the candidates’ health status , asking Nigerians to push for the exercise to be made a part of the electoral process .
Though they believed that any leader could fall ill at any time , they said knowing the candidates ’ health status would help to avoid a situation whereby the President ’ s illness would hold the country “ hostage” as experienced in the past.
The Vice - President of the Commonwealth Medical Association and a former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr . Osahon Enabulele, said that his position had always been that presidential candidates should be subjected to health test so that Nigerians would know if they were medically fit to hold the office .
Saying he was in full support of the test , Enabulele said it should be a requirement in the country’ s electoral process .
He said , “ I even canvassed for this at the National Conference . However , the selfish interest of the political class has not allowed this to happen and so they have been holding us hostage. Nigerians have always borne the brunt of this selfish interest. The case of President Buhari is not the first and may not be the last unless Nigerians push harder and back compulsory health test for presidential aspirants .
“ The time has come for us to ascertain the health status of anyone who aspires to lead us . And this is not about a candidate just presenting a medical certificate to the public ; medical reports can be purchased. The health test should be conducted by trusted persons and I ’ ll love to be involved . Though ill health is something no one proposes, at least let’ s start getting things right . It’ s a way of moving this country forward. ”
During the first two years of his administration , President Muhammadu Buhari ’ s frequent medical trip to London had generated so much controversy amid calls that his health status should be revealed to the public .
First , the President had on February 5 , 2016 , barely a year into his administration , gone on a six - day vacation to London , the United Kingdom , to see his doctors .
Then , on June 6 , 2016 , four months after he returned from his first trip , he took another 10 - day vacation to London to see an Ear , Nose and Throat specialist . Two days after the trip , Buhari confessed that he was suffering from a “ persistent ” ear infection.
On January 19 , 2017 , he again jetted out of the country to London for a 49 -day medical break. After he returned , he admitted that he had never been that sick in his life , adding that he would again embark on another medical trip in the future .
Similarly, late President Umaru Musa Yar ’ Adua had left the country on November 23 , 2009 , and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis [ an inflammation of the pericardium , the membrane enclosing the heart ] at a clinic in Saudi Arabia
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