General Buhari Addresses Health Issue, Says He Is Fit - Accuse PDP Of Desperation

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has denied media reports that he is terminally ill.

But shortly after he made the denial in Abuja on Sunday, the Peoples Democratic Party challenged him to take a brisk walk or jog round a stadium if, indeed, he was hale and hearty.

Some newspapers and on-line publications had in their Sunday editions, published that the former military ruler was to be flown out of the country for medical attention.

Buhari told journalists that the report on his state of health was orchestrated by some individuals not only to gain undue political advantage but to divert public attention from corruption which had assumed the front burner of national discourse.

He said, “There were reports that I was to jet out for medical check-up yesterday (Saturday) but here I am. I was in Nasarawa and Benue states yesterday (Saturday) and tomorrow (today), I will be in two states.

“The day after tomorrow (Tuesday), I will be in two more states. I sincerely don’t know how they got the impression that I was sick. I had a cold but it did not stop me from going through my schedule.”

Buhari added that a medical document purportedly confirming his alleged poor state of health was fake.

The APC presidential candidate said, “The Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital said the documents are forged.

“This desperation is beyond my comprehension. The issue we are letting Nigerians know is that there has been much corruption in this country in the last 16 years. The Peoples Democratic Party has literally destroyed this country.”

When asked to make a categorical statement on his health, Buhari jokingly asked the reporter, “How old are you, 50 years? I can tell you that if we go to the field, you will not stay as long as I would.”

The APC candidate also used the occasion to debunk allegations that his tenure at the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund was riddled with corruption.

He said that the PTF was investigated and the report presented to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who recently confirmed it.

Buhari said, “That one has been cleared. There was no fraud in the PTF. Gen. Obasanjo recently answered that question; he confirmed that there was an investigation and the report was brought to him and there was nothing on the ground as far as my management and chairmanship of the PTF were concerned.

“The person who did the investigation as President cleared me.