BREAKING: Buhari to leave Nigeria for Niger after May 29? Fresh fact emerges

Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, has reacted to the comment credited to his employer that he would run to Niger if Nigeria did not protect him after leaving the office on May 29.

Shehu, while speaking on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily, monitored by Legit.ng on Thursday, May 25, said the president's comment was just one of his ways of throwing banters.

His statement reads in part: "This thing about going to Niger republic after leaving the office, if you see how people are taking this issue very seriously, is as if the president has more loyalty to that country, absolutely not the case. It is just his way of throwing banters and way of easing tension around himself."

On Tuesday, May 23, the president reportedly said he would be defended and protected by the Niger Republic after his handing over on Monday, May 29, if anyone tried to move against him.

Vanguard reported that the president's comment had drawn ire from the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, who criticized Buhari for not being committed to Nigeria and that the country's people would have nothing to miss after he handed over on Monday.

Buhari noted that he was speaking his mind in order to reiterate his position on staying far away from Abuja after leaving office.