Former spokesperson to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has said his former boss might have died years earlier if he had relied solely on Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Speaking on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television, Adesina defended Buhari’s repeated medical trips abroad while in office, insisting they were necessary to keep him alive.

“If he had said, ‘I will do my medicals in Nigeria,’ just as a show-off or something, he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country,” Adesina said.

Buhari died Sunday at a hospital in London after a prolonged illness. Adesina said the late president had been receiving care in London even before he took office in 2015.

“It was not about the time he was president alone. He always had his medicals in London. You have to be alive to get certain things changed or corrected in your country. But he needed to be alive to be able to lead the country to a point when we will have that expertise,” he said.

The defense comes in the wake of criticism of Buhari’s record on healthcare. His administration publicly condemned “medical tourism” in 2016, discouraging officials from seeking treatment abroad at taxpayers’ expense.

Still, during his two terms in office, Buhari reportedly spent more than 225 days receiving medical care in London — a decision widely condemned by Nigerians frustrated with the state of local hospitals.

British-Nigerian doctor Kanbi Arogundade joined the public criticism online, describing Buhari’s reliance on foreign hospitals as “a shame.”

“Served as Nigerian president for 8 years! Died in a UK hospital. What a shame he couldn’t do anything for the state of healthcare in Nigeria—even he carried himself abroad to treat himself. What a message,” she wrote on social media.

She expressed hope that future Nigerian leaders would build a healthcare system worthy of their own trust.

“Patiently waiting for a president that will build systems in Nigeria that they are proud of and will patronise,” her post added.

Buhari’s death has sparked mixed reactions on social media, with celebrities and activists including Portable, Rinu Oduala, and DJ Switch weighing in on his legacy.

Many echoed similar sentiments about the need for Nigeria’s leaders to invest in the nation’s healthcare infrastructure instead of seeking care overseas.