2019: Buhari in better state of health than in 2015- Adesina

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has said that the president is in a better state of health than in 2015, ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Adesina said this while speaking with State House correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He said though the president was yet to decide on whether or not to seek a second term, he was in great shape health-wise since returning from his medical vacation.

Buhari left Nigeria on May 7 for a second medical vacation in London, and returned to Abuja on August 19, 2017.

The presidential aide said, “yes, health is wealth. The president is not a frivolous person. If he thinks that his health cannot carry anything, he will not do it.

“So, of course, his health will matter a lot. It will be very important but we need to give glory to God for the way he is now.

“Every day you see the president, you see a glow about him, you see freshness about him. I think he’s even in a better state than when he came in 2015. It’s all to the glory of God.

“So, once he assesses that his health can carry it, there’s nothing wrong if he steps into the fray. But he has the final decision.’’

Adesina said the Buhari administration would continue to ensure the conduct of credible elections in the country as the president had vowed to ensure the full enthronement of a system of free and fair elections.

He cited recently conducted elections across the country where the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) lost, as proof.

Read also: Gov Umahi sets tune for ‘win at all cost’ politics, vows to grind anyone that opposes his re-election into ashes

“It was not like that in the past when a certain party was in power. They won all the elections that held in states.

“But you saw Anambra. Just this weekend, you saw a senatorial election there. Some months ago in November, you saw the governorship election.

“If APC had wanted to overrun Anambra using federal might, it would have done that and it would win the election.

“Election was held in Bayelsa under this administration, APC didn’t do it. Ondo, APC won fair and square. Kogi, it won fair and square. Where APC wins, it wins. Where it loses, it loses.

“That’s the attitude of the president. Your party doesn’t have to win by hook or crook,’’ he added.

On reports that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi had been appointed as Director-General for President Buhari’s campaign organisation, the presidential aide described the reports as mere rumour.

He said the president had not decided to run for re-election as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had not yet issued its authorization.

He said, “well, me I believe that things like Director-General will come when you have become a candidate. If the president steps into the fray now, he’s an aspirant just like any other aspirant.

“Having a Director-General comes when you become a candidate of the party.’’

On whether Buhari would embrace the Nelson Mandela option of a single four-year term, Adesina said it was the constitutional right of the president to run or not to run.

“Of course, this is a democracy. People will always have a right to their opinion. You know one thing about democracy is that there is multiplicity of opinion.

“So, those who believe in the Mandela option, it is their right. And it is also the right of the president to run or not to run. So, you don’t abridge the right of anybody under a democracy.

“You cannot start a race until the whistle is blown. So, when he blows the whistle and say ‘yes, this is my ambition,’ then, the race starts.’’

 

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