The Jigawa Government has declared Friday, July 7, as a public holiday to enable public servants offer special prayer for President Muhammadu Buhari ’s quick recovery.

Alhaji Isma’il Ibrahim, the Public Relations Officer, Office of the state’s Head of Civil Service (HoS), announced this in a statement in Dutse on Thursday.

Ibrahim said that the State Executive Council took the decision at its sitting on July 5.

He explained that the government declared Friday as a work-free day in order to enable public servants to join other citizens to offer special prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari’s wellbeing.

“During this day, it is expected that all public servants and the entire people of the state will pray to Almighty Allah to grant our president quick recovery.

“It is also expected that they will also pray to Almighty Allah to grant Jannatul Firdausi to late Danmasanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule,” he added.

The state of health and absence of the President Buhari has become a subject of many discussions but the Presidency has said that the situation does not amount to a Constitutional Crisis.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said in a statement dismissed an article which speculates that Nigeria faced imminent political and constitutional crisis on account of President Buhari’s absence to attend to his health in London.

The contentious article entitled “The Gentleman’s Agreement that Could Break Apart Nigeria,” was published in the United States-based Foreign Policy magazine.

Garba said the article was a “needlessly sensational and exaggerated speculations by conspiracy theorists”.

He said it was misleading for the writer to compare President Buhari’s case to that of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, adding that the circumstances are completely different.