TheCable

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says  Abba Kyari, chief of staff to the president, did not use the funds of the Nigeria high commission in London to pay his medical bills during his recent visit for emergency medical treatment. 

Shehu said the allegations contained in a report published by an online news medium, were “totally incorrect, misleading and a fabrication”.

“The Nigeria High Commission in London did not at any time ever settle the medical bills or any other bills for that matter as Abba Kyari personally took responsibility for paying his own bills. This is by the chief of staff’s choice,” he said.

Shehu said Kyari “pays for his medicals, his taxi and accommodation in the UK in spite of the high office he occupies, even when there is no rule that says he cannot be catered for by government”.

“For the records, Kyari was rushed out of Nigeria for an emergency medical treatment on the fateful December 1, 2016. To receive him on arrival, the Wellington Hospital needed to have cash deposited, or in the absence of this, a letter of guarantee,” Shehu explained.

“In order to meet this condition, the Nigeria High Commission in London wrote the Letter of Guarantee to the hospital for treatment to commence. The role of the High Commission didn’t involve financial commitments on behalf of Kyari.

“The Letter of Guarantee from the High Commission was meant to meet the routine requirements of the Wellington Hospital since the patient in question (Kyari) didn’t possess the UK National Health Insurance.”

He said that besides senior government officials, “other reputable Nigerians are issued with such guarantee letters to hospitals”, adding that  “a guarantor is not liable unless there is a default, but this wasn’t the case with Abba Kyari who paid all his medical bills by himself as he had done on previous occasions”.

“Hospital records are available for verification to show that the Nigeria High Commission in London didn’t spend a penny on Kyari, as its involvement didn’t go beyond the issuance of the letter of guarantee to the Wellington Hospital,” he added.