Buhari denies foreign medical trip

By Umar Muhammad Puma

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has described as false a report making the rounds suggesting that he was ill and will be flown abroad for medical checkup.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Buhari said a newspaper (not Peoples Daily), reported that he was jetted out for medical treatment abroad; while in actual fact he was busy with his presidential campaign tour of Benue Nasarawa and Plateau states.

“A national daily reported that I was to jet out for medical checkup yesterday but here I am. I was at Nasarawa and Benue states yesterday, tomorrow (today), I am going to be in two states, the day after tomorrow in two more states. I am doing two states per day. How they got the impression that I was sick I do not know although I got cold and that did not stop me from going through my schedule.

He said “a document have been put on paper, on tweeter that I am sick and the ABU said they are forged documents, this desperation in beyond my understanding.

“I don’t know of this desperation. The issue we are telling Nigerians is that of corruption in this country for the last 16 years PDP has literally destroyed this country. This is the issue and what does my health got to do with that one?” he queried.

On the alleged fraud in the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), he said “there is no fraud in PTF, there was an investigation and General Obasanjo has answered that question, he confirmed that there was an investigation and the report was brought to him and there was nothing on ground as far as my management and chairmanship of the PTF was concerned. So what else can I say? The person who did the investigation because he was the Head of State he cleared me so what else can I say?

On the issue of certificate, Buhari said: “Why didn’t Nigerians ask I have contested three times under the same rules set by the INEC, where there is basic education qualification you must have and I was allowed to contest all these elections because my certificate was in order and there were individuals that wrote to the United States War College and the college answered them and it was published by some of your papers. So really this desperation of misinformation that is being passed around will do nobody any good because our minds are being taken away from the serious issues of corruption and incompetence by the PDP”.

On the State of the Nigerian economy, he said “well, the country is broke now, how many states could not pay their workers’ salaries? Even in December most families were hungry during Christmas because they could not pay their salary yet they are talking about the individual health instead of paying the people.

When asked to make a categorical statement on his state of health, Buhari jokingly asked the reporter, “How old are you, 50 years? I am telling you if go to the field, you would not last the time I will last in the field”.