All Progressives Congress chieftain in Lagos State, Joe
Igbokwe, says the party’s National Leader, Bola Tinubu, is physically fit to
lead as Nigeria’s President.
Igbokwe, a former spokesman for APC in Lagos, argued that
69-year-old Tinubu, is not older than the current President of the United
States, Joe Biden, 79; and his predecessor, Donald Trump, 75.
Recall that Tinubu, on January 10, visited the President, Muhammadu Buhari, and announced to State House
correspondents that he had informed the President of his intention to contest
the presidential election in 2023.
Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007,
celebrated his 69-year-old birthday in March 2021. In the same month, Tinubu
tripped over his foot and stumbled, crashing between two chairs on arrival at
the 11th Arewa House Lecture in Kaduna State.
For over three months in 2021, Tinubu was away in the United
Kingdom where he underwent surgery and therapy for a knee injury.
The health condition of the APC leader has since become a
subject of controversy with many Nigerians rejecting another President like
Buhari who has spent over 230 days in the United Kingdom on health grounds
since he came into office in May 2015.
Aside from his heath, Tinubu’s educational qualifications
have also been scrutinised lately by many Nigerians.
Speaking on a television programme, however, Igbokwe said
Tinubu is mentally and physically fit to be Nigeria’s President.
When asked whether Tinubu is physically fit for the office
of the President, Igbokwe said, “This kind of question will always come. When
you get to US, the number one democratic nation. You’ve seen Trump, you know
his age, you’ve Joe Biden, you know his age. Age has nothing to do with it,
it’s just a number.
“So, he (Tinubu) has the capacity, he is coming to the table
with a lot of experience and you cannot ignore that. What we should do is to
pray for him. I don’t think he is older than Biden, I don’t think he is older
than the former President Trump.”
“He is 69, that’s his age. Even if he is 70, he is
qualified, even if he is 80, he is qualified. So long as he is physically fit
and he has the mental alertness to do the job,” the APC chieftain added on
Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’.
Igbokwe, who is from Anambra State and currently serves as
Special Adviser for Drainage & Water Resources to Governor Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, said he won’t vote for any aspirant from the South-East or elsewhere
but Tinubu.
Already, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; former Governor
of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Kalu; amongst
other APC members from the South-East geopolitical zone have declared intention
to run for the much-coveted office in Aso Rock.
Also, other stalwarts of the ruling party including
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, have been
rumoured to nurse presidential ambitions in 2023 but both of them were yet to
declare an interest as of the time of filing this report.
Asked whether there won’t be a conflict of choice between
Osinbajo and Tinubu’s followers, Igbokwe said, “It is the party that will
decide, we will go to the national convention, whoever emerges, we’ll support
that person because only one candidate will be fielded by the APC; it can be
Asiwaju (Tinubu), it can be Osinbajo, it can be Umahi but as I speak to you
now, my voter’s card is in my pocket and I am going to use it to vote for
Asiwaju if he wins the primary.”
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