From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, cannot be stampede into showing Nigerians his certificate of medical fitness before candidates of other political parties.
The ruling party insisted that the only condition that will propel him to do so will be if other parties’ candidates especially Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, do so.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, who made the declaration while appearing on a television programme, emphasised that the party can only have conversation about Tinubu’s body being old or aged or being challenged but his mind is still very fit.
“Our candidate, Bola Tinubu is as fit as anyone. I am not saying this to be political. For the purpose of this discussion, you have raised the question of his health. From my knowledge, even though I am not a medical doctor, from observing him, for being around him, engaging with him, and many times over the last few months that I have been at the campaign council, in meetings with him and observing him meeting with others, his schedule will make anyone else, who think they are as fit as fiddle, to actually get dizzy.
“Who says that the older you are the more vulnerable or the quicker you are to the grave? Who says that? That is the assumption I find a bit disturbing. Because the fellow is an elderly person, therefore he is going to kick the bucket. We can have a conversation about the body being old or aged or being challenged while the mind is still very fit.
“My point is that there is no assumption that should inform our conversation around those who compete. I don’t know of any candidate in this election who has offered us their own medical records. Even the younger ones among them, no one has done that. I am not privy to that and I have not seen anyone,” he argued.
Asked why Tinubu should not start it since the APC is the ruling party, the NPS, said: “Yes, but the Atiku Abukabar should start it. Peter Obi may start it. Anyone else may start it. It doesn’t mean that because we are a ruling party, therefore, the initiative to start it must come from us.” “Because that also played into this whole narrative that a particular candidate may have something about himself that should concern us. I rejected that because that doesn’t support my observation and is certainly not supported by natural occurrences. The people who are younger may even be sicker,” he argued.
He also defended the exclusion of Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, from the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), stressing that he will still be part of the campaign.
“My good friend the Vice President has not disappeared. And I am quite sure that in between his responsibility, the vice president, he will contribute and lend his voice, prestige, and authority, to the campaign of our party. I have no doubt about that. But I don’t think we need to make or think too much of the campaign council’s needs.
“The fact that you are on the campaign council doesn’t mean you are going to be the best campaigner. And the fact that you are not doesn’t mean you are absent. We are really taking these things to be a bit too much. The fact remains that he is our vice president. He will find that moment to cement the wall of our presidential candidate and all of our candidates. And, that I think assume is part of his responsibility as the vice president,” he said.
On what us delaying the inauguration of the PCC, the ruling party’s spokesperson said that; “the fact is that when you try to put together a campaign council for a ruling party, a party of over 40 million people, that is no joke. And in any event, this is a campaign council that every member of our party wishes to be involved in. Keep in mind the candidates of our party competed at our primaries and came out on top.
“Now, a lot of those who made that happen would naturally wish to be involved in the campaign. What you are seeing is an overload of interest and enthusiasm and the desire of party men and women to be involved in the process. Those who call it a problem, I call it a sweet problem. That is what it is. I rather have that problem where everyone wants to be involved in the council than to have a problem where no one wants to be involved in the council which is the case for our own key opposition party the PDP.
“Many of those who were listed and given eminent positions in the campaign council say they are not interested. We have a situation where everyone in our units in our wards wants to be involved, but you know not everyone can be listed as a member of the campaign council. otherwise, it becomes unwieldy and unmanageable. It is a sweet problem that we are trying to resolve. We are happy we have that kind o problem rather than the ones our guys on the other side are dealing with it at the moment,” he chided PDP.