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Contrary to reports in some sections of the media that Lola Ade-John, the Minister of Tourism, was poisoned, her ministry has come out to state what happened.
According to the Assistant Director Press in the Ministry, Emem Mariam Ofiong, Ade-John came down with malaria and went to the hospital for treatment.
Ofiong disclosed this when The Vanguard contacted the Tourism Ministry for confirmation on the earlier report that the minister had been poisoned.
She said, “It is not true that the Minister was poisoned, she only had malaria and had been treated and is now stable.”
Earlier reports had claimed that Ade-John was hospitalised and undergoing treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Jabi, Abuja, following a poisoning incident.
“Lola Ade-John, 60, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of her poisoning. She has spent four days at the facility as of Friday morning,” Peoples Gazette quoted a family source to have said.
“Ade-John, a banker and tech investor, has been on a machine to aid her breathing, adding that the specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately ascertained,” the report added.
The report further said that “Her worsening situation has further set the family against the government, with the permanent secretary of her ministry said to be in disagreement as to whether she should continue receiving treatment at a public hospital or be moved to a better-equipped private facility downtown."
The permanent secretary, whose name was given as Ngozi Onwudike, allegedly firmly stood against transferring the minister because the FMC, being a public hospital, offers cheaper services to the government, a position resoundingly rebuffed by her family.
Ade-John recently assumed office as the pioneer Minister of Tourism after President Bola Tinubu unbundled the old Ministry of Information and Culture, splitting it into three ministries - Ministry of Information and National Orientation; Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy and Ministry of Tourism.