An All Progressives Congress (APC) group, under the banner of Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Council in Ekiti State, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is medically fit and mentally sound to lead the country for another four years. The council was reacting to claims by the opposition that the president is sick and can’t cope with the rigours of governance beyond 2019.
The Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Council also alleged that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ekiti chapter, was plotting to import violence into the state during the 2019 presidential election, vowing that such plan would be frustrated by the good people of the state.
Director General of the campaign Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu and his Deputy in Ekiti Central senatorial district, Taiwo Olatunbosun, vowed that the APC would use the coming polls to prove that the PDP is dead in the state with the outcome of the July 14 governorship election, which Governor Kayode Fayemi won.
At a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Osinkolu and other directors of the campaign said it was wrong for the opposition to brand President Buhari as unfit.
“The president has been to Bauchi, Yobe, Kogi campaigning to Nigerians on his re-election bid; can a sick man do all that?,” the campaign leader said.
“It is sad that former President Olusegun Obasanjo could say all these. In 2007 elections, he told Nigerians that they should reject Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, calling him a thief and now he is campaigning for the same person.
“Although Obasanjo is free to express his opinion on state’s issues, he should rather act like a statesman,” he continued.
Olatunbosun added that the former president was not qualified to speak on the health status of the Buhari, since he is not a medical doctor.
“Where did the former president get his information about President Buhari’s fitness? Was it from the theology school he just attended?” he asked.
Olatunbosun predicted that the coming elections are going to be a walkover for the APC in Ekiti and will become what he termed “end of discussion for the PDP.”
“The coming elections will silence the opposition and its demagoguery. We shall go round Ekiti and showcase President Buhari’s achievements, which are being felt everywhere.
“We heard about the plan of the PDP to invade Ekiti and we know that the present government and security will checkmate them. The voice of the people must count in the coming elections and we are confident Buhari will win.”
The Chairman of the TraderMoni scheme in Ekiti, Mr Oscar Ayeleso, dispelled the insinuation that the scheme is a tactical approach for vote buying, saying beneficiaries were randomly picked in a manner bereft of political considerations.
He said 16,000 and 8,000 persons were enumerated for the TraderMoni and market money schemes in the state alone and that the beneficiaries would get their loans to set up small-scale businesses from the Bank of Industry.
“Most of those that were enumerated in about 11 markets where the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited in Ekiti on Monday were randomly picked; no political colouration, so the issue of trying to induce our voters does not arise.”