Investigations by Punch Newspapers in Abuja on Tuesday indicated that the President and those closed to him had planned to keep Mrs. Jonathan's trip "a top secret."
Mrs. Jonathan is presently in Germany, where she was said to have undergone surgery for ruptured appendicitis. But the Presidency had denied that the President's wife was ill, saying that she was only resting abroad.
Her spokesman, Mr. Ayo Osinlu, said the President's wife travelled out of the country to take a "moment's rest."
It was learnt that the President had thought that his wife whereabouts would be kept under wraps by those considered to be his close associates of Patience aids and few security officials, who it was gathered, knew about her movement. Investigations further showed that in order to avoid leakage of information on her trip, only those considered to be "very trusted" aides knew about it.
However, when the story was published by a online medium, Saharareporters, the President was said to be angry that there were moles among those considered to be trusted aides.
A Presidency source said, "The President is angry that the story could still leak when a very few staff of the President and security men knew about the travelling.
"He had thought that the movement could be kept secret as planned, but was astonished when news started filtering on the Internet about the sickness that made her to travel.
"At some point, he felt bad that despite the overhaul of the security system in the Villa, the movement of his wife would still not be kept secret."
It was learnt that the entire security system in the Presidential Villa had been overhauled more than three times since the President assumed office.
Before now, the President's aides were said to have thought that some foreign media houses working at the Presidential Villa were responsible for the leakage of information in the Presidency.
However, the postage of some photographs on the Internet and online medium were said to have changed the thought.
It was learnt that though the President had not ordered any probe, but "is likely going to order the overhauling of security in the Villa."
Presidency sources said the President felt that some "elements who took the photographs of a son of late President Umaru Yar'Adua in the Villa with Ak47 and some new naira notes of one thousand denominations might still be in the Villa."
The President, it was further gathered, might direct that some aides of his aides and that of his wife be either transferred or removed.
Also a spokesperson for the Horst Schmidt Klinik in Wiesbaden, Germany has revealed that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was in a bad state of health when she arrived at the hospital last week.
The hospital's official, who confirmed that initial records showed that Mrs. Patience Jonathan had earlier been treated for food poisoning in Nigeria before being brought to the Horst Schmidt Klinik, however, said she was responding to treatment after she had undergone a major surgery for a ruptured appendix to remove the poisons in her intestine.
During an eight-minute telephone chat yesterday through telephone number +49611433436, a senior consultant of the hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mrs. Jonathan was brought to the hospital early last week after the management of the hospital had been contacted and briefed on the deteriorating health condition of the first lady.
She said that Mrs. Jonathan was getting better but added that the hospital management would ensure that she was fully fit before she would be allowed to go back to Nigeria.
When we demanded further details, the hospital official said it was improper and unethical for her to make such details available to a third party, ending the call and refusing to pick up subsequent calls.
A reliable source in Aso Rock told us that the decision to take the First Lady to Germany for better treatment was borne out of the fact that her medical aides in Nigeria complained that they could not get accurate diagnosis as a result of insufficient medical facilities in the country.
Twelve days after she left the country, her Media Assistant, Ayo Osinlu, yesterday said there is no definite date yet for her return.
In a telephone conversation yesterday, Osinlu insisted that Mrs Jonathan is on a foreign trip to take a well deserved rest. "I can tell you authoritatively that the First Lady was not lifted by any air ambulance to anywhere, all those things are lies.
"Nobody is going to put a gun on my head and force me to talk when I have no fresh information," he said.
Asked when the First Lady will return, he retorted: "I don't know. I don't have any information on that. You don't expect me to call her and ask her when are you returning, is she my mate? Ours is to ensure everything is in order to receive her once her return is made known to us. I do not have fresh information on that".
Osinlu had on Sunday laboured hard to justify Mrs Jonathan's sudden disappearance from the public.
"If you look at her itinerary in August, you will be wondering how she was able to accomplish that," he told a national daily.
Source: Punch Newspaper
Credit: George Agba, Abiodun Oluwarotimi and Leadership Newspaper.
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