By JACOB KUBEKA, Abuja –
In an apparent move aimed at avoiding a situation where the next President would spent more time on medical trips abroad than remain at home to fix Nigeria’s problems, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has called for proof of medical fitness of those aspiring to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari come 2023.
To start with, the foremost northern group has thrown a challenge to Nigerians to show proof that the first presidential aspirant to declare his intention on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is not fit to vie for the Presidency in 2023 on health ground.
Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the APC, made his intention known after meeting with President Buhari at the State House in Abuja last week to inform him about his ambition.
The ACF, through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Yawe, threw the challenge on Friday, just as several other aspirant, including incumbent governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, and former governor of Abia state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, almost immediately followed Tinubu’s footsteps by also declaring their intentions to run for Nigeria’s top job.
According to the ACF, coming out with proof of Tinubu’s unfitness to function as president would save Nigeria and Nigerians from the agony of having any President with health challenge.
“If people have issues or evidence about his (Tinubu) health, let them come out and speak. Let them provide evidence that he is not strong enough to contest for the Presidency or hold the office.
“The people, who have the evidence that Tinubu is not strong enough for the office of Presidency, should save us the agony of having a sick President in office. They should speak out,” the ACF spokesman demanded.
The move by the ACF is predicated on recent history of Nigeria’s leaders, including the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, whose ill-health began to worsen shortly after taking over power former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 2007. Yar’Adua, a former governor of Katsina State, battled with sickness but unfortunately died in office on May 5, 2010.
The death of Yar’Adua had created an unforeseen political crisis which was only solved through the introduction of what has become popularly known as “doctrine of necessity.”
“So, if we know that somebody is sick, we should not allow him to take over that office. It is a serious office that will determine the future of millions of citizens. In a complex country like Nigeria, we should not allow somebody that is not medically fit to occupy such office and mess all of us up.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is always travelling abroad for medical attention, and Nigerians would be organising demonstrations to force him back home. It was really embarrassing. We should not allow such things to happen again,” Yawe said.
At the time of this report, the media office of Asiwaju Tinubu was still to react to the call by the northern group, but another APC aspirant, Senator Orji Kalu, apparently reacting to the ACF challenge, boasted in a televised interview at the week that he was financially and physically fit for the office of president of Nigeria.
“I’m the most qualified to be the next president”, the Chief Whip of the Senate told ARISE News in an interview.
