Tinubu Returns With PICC Implanted In Right Arm

President-elect, Bola Tinubu, was on Monday welcomed to the country by jubilant political associates and supporters at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

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However, barely hours after Tinubu’s return, fresh concerns over his health became the topic of discussion.

THE WHISTLER observed that a video of his arrival at the Airport in Abuja circulating on social media shows a peripherally inserted central catheter, PICC, attached to his lower right arm.

The inserting was visible while he was waving to the hordes of supporters who came to welcome him.

A PICC is an insertion by way of a thin tube passed into a vein in the upper arm to the large vein just above the right side of the heart known as vena cava.

One of the world’s renowned clinics called Mayo Clinic, US, defined PICC as a peripherally inserted central catheter also called a PICC line, as a long, thin tube that’s inserted through a vein in one’s arm and passed through to the larger veins near the heart. Very rarely, the PICC line may be placed in one’s leg.

It is used to give intravenous fluids, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and other drugs for patients with terminal sickness and chronic health conditions like cancer.

According to Mayo, a PICC line is used to deliver medications and other treatments directly to the large central veins near one’s heart. A doctor might recommend a PICC line if a treatment plan requires frequent needle sticks for medicine or blood draws.

Although Tinubu has no reported case of cancer or sickness, there were speculations soon after he left for France that he went for medical treatment.

A statement from his media aide, Tunde Rahman, announcing his departure on the 21 March from Nigeria said, “President-elect, Asíwájú Bola Tinubu, has travelled abroad to rest and plan his transition programme ahead of May 29, 2023 inauguration.”

He also specifically added that, “The president-elect decided to take a break after the hectic campaign and election season to rest in Paris and London, preparatory to going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) and the Ramadan Fasting that begins Thursday.”

THE WHISTLER had exclusively reported that Tinubu did not attend the planned lesser hajj as stated in the statement and was not seen in public.

A spokesman of the Presidential Inauguration Council, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed to this medium that he did not attend lesser hajj but that “he’s fine” and “is in France.”

But a report by an online paper(not THE WHISTLER) said contrary to Onanuga’s assertion, Tinubu was hospitalized for days in France and was indeed “intubated.”

Our Correspondent saw what looked like a PICC line on the lower right arm of the former Lagos State Governor just as he was waving to cheers and greetings from supporters.

When contacted, Onanuga claimed not to know what a PICC meant and asked our Correspondent for explanation.

When told what it meant and its usage, he said the question “trash.”

“I hope someone did not give you a photoshopped image. I am in his house now, with him.

“There is nothing on his arm. He is hale and hearty and did not go for any surgery in France.

“Imagination. Fiction,” Onanuga declared.

Minutes later he sent series of messages, saying, “Your imagination. We are at home. Nothing like that.

“But u can go ahead and write your trash as usual.

“We are eating dinner with him. I can’t see what you claim,” he added.

Tinubu faced questions over his health during the presidential election campaign with several direct calls for him to declare his health status.

This was after several foreign trips where he was reported to have sought medical treatments for undisclosed ailments that required weeks of hospitalisations.

He ignored those calls and went on to win the presidential election that was held on February 25, although the election is a subject of disputes in court.