Concerns were raised, last night, over the
health status of the presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari, following his planned
trip to the United States of American towards
the end of January.
Buhari is reported to have filled an online
application for the United States of America
Visa to enable him travel to the country
around January 26 for medical scrutiny.
The application for the visa, it was learnt,
instantly fueled speculations that Buhari had
been weighed down by the strain of the
campaigns which he had been undertaking in
recent days, thereby requiring urgent medical
attention in the foreign land.
His opponents argued that Buhari would not
have sought to abandon his campaigns
midway and travel abroad for medical
attention if his health condition was not dire.
They contended that the general’s failing
health had become a serious concern to his
handlers, who have, however, quietly managed
the situation to avoid any damage to his
candidature.
But in a shift response, Buhari dismissed the
claims over his health as mere fabrication of
lies by those afraid of his rising popularity
among Nigerian voters.
While insisting that he was hale and hearty,
Buhari, through his Campaign Director of
Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu,
asked Nigerians not to be distracted by the
antics of desperate and unpopular candidates
who were afraid of losing in a free and fair
contest. The media campaign director
dismissed as a figment of the imagination of
“wicked and evil persons,” the rumour that
Buhari may be travelling to the United States
towards the end of this month for medical
check up.
While dismissing the report as fabrications,
however, he said that “as a prominent leader
of the opposition, many interests across the
globe want him (GMB) over for political and
diplomatic consultations,” adding that the
“invitation to the US may not be unconnected
to this.”
Shehu also dismissed as fake and untenable a
purported medical report from the Ahmadu
Bello University Teaching Hospital showing
that Buhari had been diagnosed of prostate
cancer by the institution.
In a statement, he described the claim, said to
have been credited to a ‘renowned source in
the hospital’, as disdainful, distractive,
mischievous, fake and fallacious.
The Buhari aide said, “It (report of cancer) is
untrue and condescending of its exponents. I
have it on good authority that GMB has not
visited the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching
Hospital in the last five years. So, how can
anyone say that he was diagnosed with
prostate cancer last October, barely three
months ago?.
“This is the highest point of political
distraction, malice and mischief. The report
was not only fake but unfounded. I have
spoken to impeccable sources at ABUTH all of
whom deny the report and also claimed that
the letterhead used was not their regular one,
and that Dr. Bala Mohammed that purportedly
approved the false medical report is not on
the personnel list of that department.” Beside,
Shehu said sources at ABUTH disclosed that
“medical report analysis only come from
laboratory technologists and not medical
doctors as handwritten in this particular
case”, stressing that Buhari did not attend the
hospital for cancer or any other ailment.
He restated its statement of Friday that
Buhari is as fit as a fiddle.
“The Ahmadu Bello University Teaching
Hospital (ABUTH) has discredited the
purported report said to have emanated from
the hospital to the effect that General
Muhammadu Buhari is stricken with cancer,”
the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
has said.
Meanwhile, there is a groundswell of
opposition from Nigerians in the Diaspora
against the candidate of Buhari in the
February 14 presidential election.
The opposition against the former military
ruler is being championed by the United States
chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora
Organization (NIDO), the flagship association
of Nigerians living abroad.
Speaking at a press conference held at the
Hilton Garden, Washington DC, Hon. Victor
Ugho, the immediate past Vice-President of
NIDO, who is the current President of the
Georgia State chapter of the association with
headquarters in Atlanta, urged the former
Head of State to perish the thought of
becoming the next president of the country,
saying that the world has moved past the
likes of Buhari.
Ugho regretted that Buhari has allowed
himself to be pushed around by some people
whom, he said, were looking for ways to cause
more pains to Nigeria. He noted that Buhari,
as Head of State, had ample opportunity to
turn the country around, stressing that, “as a
matter of sincerity, I do not think Buhari is
the best candidate for Nigeria at this period in
time. He was there as Head of State, what did
he do?
“Again, he has not told us what he is going to
do differently. We need continuity; the choice
should not be based on tribal sentiment. Let
him tell us how he is going to fix the so-called
terrible situation he has identified. We need
somebody who will not bring disunity.”
Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer of
NIDO, Mr. Ndubusi George called on Nigerians
at home and in the Diaspora to think wisely
and vote for the right candidate in next
month’s presidential election.
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