I’m hale and hearty, still in Nigeria – Buhari

All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, dismissed allegation on his medical and educational fitness for the presidency describing such accusations are distractions by the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to deviate from the core campaign issues of corruption and incompetent leadership.

 The speculations around Buhari followed newspaper reports at the weekend which alleged that the former head of state was about to travel abroad on account of his alleged ill-health. Read his comment are cut..

According to him: “I was at Nasarawa and Benue states yesterday (Saturday). Tomorrow I am going to be in two states. The day after tomorrow in two more states. I am doing two states per day. How they got the impression that I was sick I do not know although I got cold and that did not stop me from going through my schedule.

“I don’t know of this desperation. The issue we are telling Nigerians is that of corruption in this country for the last 16 years PDP has literally destroyed this country. This is the issue and what has my health got to do with that one?

“Document have been put in the papers, on twitter that I am sick but the ABU said they are forged documents. This desperation is beyond my understanding.”

When asked by a reporter to make a categorical statement on his state of health, Buhari jokingly asked the reporter: “How old are you? 50 years? I am telling you if we go to the field, you would not last the time I will last in the field.”

“Yes Buhari was invited by the State Department for an interaction but he has not been able to fix a date for it because of the hectic campaign schedule and it is our view that he may not have the time for the trip,” the campaign official said.

“I have contested three times under the same rules set by the INEC. I was allowed to contest all these elections because my certificate was in order and there were individuals that wrote to the United States War College and the college answered them and it was published by some of your papers. So really this desperation of misinformation that is being passed around will do nobody any good because our minds are being taken away from the serious issues of corruption and incompetence by the PDP”, he said.

“That one has been cleared. There was no fraud in PTF. There was an investigation and General Obasanjo has answered that question. He confirmed that there was an investigation and the report was brought to him and there was nothing on the ground as far as my management and chairmanship of the PTF was concerned. So what else can I say when the person who did the investigation because he was the Head of State cleared me? So what else can I say?”

“Well, the country is broke now. How many states could not pay their workers’ salaries? Even in December most families were hungry during Christmas because they could not pay their salaries, yet they are talking about an individual’s health instead of paying the people”, he said

Credit: Vanguard