Take medical leave 'immediately', Nigerian leader Buhari told

The activists said this in statement on Monday.

According to Premium Times, the activists wrote: "As we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery of President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay."

A BBC report said on Tuesday said that Muhammadu's recent absence from two consecutive cabinet meetings as well as Friday prayers last week had fueled speculation about the state of his health.

The report said that Buhari had not been seen in public for more than a week and the hashtag #WhereIsBuhari was trending on Twitter in Nigeria.

See some of the tweets below.

Buhari, 74, returned to work in March after nearly two months' medical leave in Britain. During his absence, his office had repeatedly denied claims the leader was ill and insisted he was "hale and hearty".

But when he returned home, a gaunt-looking Buhari said he "couldn’t recall being so sick since I was a young man" and described receiving "blood transfusions".

The nature of his health was not revealed.

Meanwhile, the founding chairperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande has urged Nigerians to pray for Buhari’s health, according to Vanguard.

In a statement, Akande said: "The health of the leader [Buhari] is intricately intertwined with the health of the nation… I did not see President Buhari at the wedding of his adopted son in Kaduna last Saturday. I was sad and I wept.

"When last we met at the wedding of his daughter in Abuja, last December, I complained to him that I was not happy about his stressful looks," Akande was quoted as saying. DM