Nigerian Tourism Minister Lola Ade-John has reportedly been hospitalized in Abuja after suffering acute poisoning.
The minister, Lola Ade-John, 60, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of poisoning, according to the sources.
Family sources says she had been at the facility for four days as of Friday morning.
The minister, a career banker and tech investor has been on a machine to aid her breathing, the sources said. The specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately established, according to the publication.
The publication further reports 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, Ngozi Onwudike, was said to have insisted that the minister should not be transferred because the FMC is a public hospital and its services wouldn’t attract substantial charges to the government, a position her family rebuffed. But they remained with her as they could not raise funds to move her to a private hospital, the sources said.
Ade-John assumed the role of minister in August, appointed by President Bola Tinubu. She stood out as one of the cabinet members selected outside the traditional political circles. Having resided in London for several years, she was called upon by the president to return to the country and serve.
