Rotimi Amaechi, a
former governor of Rivers State, one of the oil-rich states in the Niger Delta
and currently of the two so-called super ministers in Buhari’s cabinet,
believed the president's infirmity was not serious enough to preclude him from
putting in one more term.
“If you look at
the president since he came to the country, you will see there is a huge
improvement,” Amaechi, who was the director-general of Buhari’s campaign said
on Channels Television’s Hard Copy. “He’s regaining his weight. This is a
74-year old man, he is no longer a 58-old man, he is not 50...he is not a young
man."
Buhari left
Nigeria on January 19 for London to “undergo routine medical check-ups” during
a short holiday. He only returned on March 10 after an extended period of
medical treatment. He also hinted at the possibility of him going back for more
treatment.
But what Nigerians
should be more worried about, Amaechi said, is his ability [or lack thereof] to
provide good leadership and deliver on the campaign promises he made, which
were just three, according to the former Rivers governor.
“He made three
[campaign promises]. The rest are propagandas, social media propagandas,” he
said.
When asked if he
would support Buhari if he stands for re-election in 2019, Amaechi replied in
affirmative. “I will advise that he should,” he said.
"The
president is fit enough to govern and if he makes the decision to run again, if
he does, I don't think there is anything wrong in supporting him."
Kaduna State
governor Nasir El-Rufai recently expressed similar sentiments.
But in spite of
Amaechi’s vote of confidence in Buhari’s health, there are still questions to
be answered.
Shortly after his
return from London in March, Buhari acknowledged he was terribly sick but did
not disclose the true nature of his ailment.
"I couldn't
recall being so sick since I was a young man," he said at a meeting with
security chiefs and ministers. He also confessed to receiving "blood
transfusions” and “going to the laboratories and so on and so forth".
He has also been
absent from the last couple of Federal Executive Council meetings usually held
at the presidential villa, leaving Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to chair those
meetings. Moreover, The Guardian reported that he was also missing the Juma’at
prayer at Aso Villa mosque last Friday.
But the presidency
insisted that there was no reason for Nigerians to panic. It said Buhari scale
down his activities at the Nigerian seat of power on doctors’ advice.
"As eager as
he is to be up and about, the President's doctors have advised on his taking
things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the
United Kingdom some weeks ago," Buhari's media aide Garba Shehu said.
His absence at the
last FEC meeting was a last minute decision, he said without stating what
informed the decision
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