Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, after the former military ruler travelled to India for knee replacement surgery and subsequently featured in an advertisement by the hospital where he received treatment.
Sowore’s criticism followed the emergence of a publicly available video showing Abubakar in India in connection with his medical treatment.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sowore said the former Head of State was featured in promotional material by the Indian hospital following his knee replacement surgery.
“This is former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, being used in a hospital advert after undergoing knee replacement surgery in India,” Sowore said.
The AAC presidential candidate questioned why successive Nigerian leaders had failed to develop first-class healthcare facilities capable of providing specialised treatment within the country.
“These so-called ‘experienced leaders’ had every opportunity while in power to build first-class healthcare facilities in Nigeria,” he said.
“Yet, in old age, they travel abroad for the very medical care they failed to make adequately available at home and can even end up as advertisements for foreign hospitals.”
Sowore said the development was an indication of what he described as decades of poor leadership and neglect of Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
He argued that political leaders who had occupied positions of authority had opportunities to improve the country’s healthcare infrastructure but continued to seek specialised treatment abroad.
Sowore subsequently brought President Bola Tinubu into the discussion, saying the situation could eventually see a Nigerian president featured in promotional material for a foreign hospital.
“At this rate, perhaps one day a hospital in France will be using a Nigerian president, Tinubu, for its adverts,” he said.
“What a tragic indictment of decades of failed leadership and neglect of Nigeria’s healthcare system,” Sowore added.
Abubakar served as Nigeria’s military Head of State from 1998 to 1999. He handed over power to an elected civilian government led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999, marking Nigeria’s return to democratic rule after years of military government.
The video and hospital advert involving Abubakar have also renewed public discussion about medical tourism and the reliance of Nigeria’s political elite on foreign healthcare facilities for specialised treatment.
Sowore has previously been critical of successive administrations over the state of Nigeria’s healthcare system and the continued movement of public officials abroad for medical treatment.
The activist also criticised Tinubu following the President’s return to Nigeria after a 28-day stay in Europe, using the development to renew his criticism of Nigerian presidents and their medical and overseas trips.
Sowore made the remarks in a post on his X account on Tuesday evening, shortly after Tinubu returned to Nigeria from France.
He drew comparisons between Tinubu’s administration and those of former Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that a similar pattern had occurred under the three administrations.
“We’ve been here before: Nigeria is repeatedly used as health insurance for sickly and worn-out presidents, who are then packaged and presented to the public in stages airport ceremonies while the same failed performances are repeated and the country is further destroyed,” Sowore wrote.
“The same actors during the Umaru Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari administrations and now Tinubu @officialABAT.”
He added: “No shame, no regrets and they want you to move on as though nothing is wrong.”
Tinubu’s 28-day stay in Europe had been described by the Presidency as a working vacation. The President subsequently returned to Nigeria on Tuesday, with his aircraft landing at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at about 6:20pm.
Sowore’s comments have consequently linked two separate developments — Abubakar’s reported knee replacement surgery and appearance in an Indian hospital advertisement, and Tinubu’s extended stay in Europe — to his broader criticism of Nigeria’s healthcare system and political leadership.
The controversy has once again brought medical tourism into public focus, particularly the continued practice of Nigerian political leaders and other prominent citizens travelling abroad for specialised healthcare despite repeated government pledges to improve medical facilities and treatment capacity within the country.