Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, flew to France Monday night for medical treatment shortly after his campaign event in Kaduna.
On Monday, Atiku led a campaign event in Kaduna where he asked Nigerians to vote for him to put a stop to the hardships in the nation that he claimed were brought on by the All Progressives Congress government.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate for the APC, and the PDP candidate subsequently ran into each other at the Abuja Airport on Monday night. There, they mingled and had a light conversation.
According to a source close to the Atiku Campaign Council, the PDP candidate departed Abuja for France to attend an urgent doctor's appointment.
Recall that Jennifer Jemila Atiku, the former wife of Nigeria's vice president and currently separated, recently disclosed that her ex-husband had been hospitalised to a hospital in Germany for an undisclosed medical issue.
Former Vice President Atiku lived in his Dubai house where several of his close friends said he had been managing his businesses and political activities until a few weeks ago when he emerged as the presidential candidate of the main opposition party.
We also learned that Atiku Abubakar temporarily moved to Dubai following the 2019 presidential election for health-related reasons and to be closer to his medical professionals in Dubai and Europe.
A source in his camp said: “Former Vice President travelled yesterday night to France where his doctors are waiting for him. He had to go immediately after rallying in Kaduna because of the urgent need to attend to his health.
“He has health challenge he is managing and he needs to be in good shape as we go deeper into the campaign season. His handlers feel that he should attend to pending and routine medical issues as the campaign season gets more demanding and take further toll on him.”
We managed to learn that the Atiku campaign team and PDP will adjust the election-related activities to fit the time the presidential candidate will be away. It is anticipated that the presidential candidate's medical trip will be very brief, and that he will then return to Nigeria to continue his campaign for the highest office.