President Muhammadu Buhari wore a face mask on Thursday, July 23 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started.
The face mask is recommended for use in public places as a means to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
But the president receives visitors at the Presidential Villa without wearing a face mask while his visitors do and are made to observe social distancing.
However, on his arrival in Bamako, Mali, President Buhari is seen wearing a face mask as he gets off the presidential jet.
Buhari is in Mali with some ECOWAS leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organisation President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.
Buhari who had only travelled out of the country twice this year – first to the UK on January 17 and to Ethiopia on February 7 – had on Tuesday, July 21 received former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
While Mr Jonathan wore a face mask, again Buhari was without a face mask, preferring instead to greet with a wave.
In company of the President of ECOWAS Commission Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, Jonathan went to brief Buhari on the unfolding situation in Mali which he recently visited as a special envoy of the regional bloc.
In March, Lauretta Onochie, social media aide of President Buhari, said in a tweet that expert medical protocol states that there is no need for face mask when in a safe environment, hence Buhari’s reason for not wearing it.
She said the rule stressed that only those visiting must wear face mask to ensure they don’t leave behind droplets in a safe environment.
“PRES @MBuhari IS NOT BREAKING RULES! Expert Medical Protocol is that if you are in your safe environment, you don’t need to wear a mask.
“Those visiting you MUST wear masks to ensure they leave no droplets in your environment.
“Wearing masks is mostly to protect people around us,” she wrote.
