Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has said President Muhammadu Buhari has health challenges and that a cabal is running his government.
Tambuwal said this when he addressed thousands of youths and students who stormed his office to expressed their gratitude to him for involving youths in his administration.
Tambuwal, who said he had been under pressure to join the 2019 presidential race, said: “We supported Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 to become president unconditionally and we admit that Buhari has integrity but that’s not the only requirement for leadership.
“We are aware that the President is affected by serious challenges of health and is being held captive by a cabal that runs Nigeria for their personal interests.”
Tambuwal, who two weeks ago defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party, said he was still making consultations on his presidential ambition because of his belief that leadership was a collective responsibility.
He said: “I have been under intense pressure from various quarters in Nigeria, including leaders of the country and friends of Nigeria outside the country, to contest the presidency.
“But leadership is a collective decision and I have never asked to be made a leader at any time in my life.
“So, my aspiration will be determined by my people and after that, I will make my political decision known in a matter of days.”
The President is currently in London on a working leave, a period during which he will see his doctors.
In his early days in office, President Buhari had spent months in a row outside the country attending to his health.
Owing to this, especially following the extension of his medical vacation in 2017, some Nigerians are already spreading an old story that the President will be staying longer than the 10 days he requested for from the National Assembly.
The story is quoting an old statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, as having said this.
