President Muhammadu Buhari’s health status will determine if he will run for 2019 elections, said Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in an interview on Sunday.
“Yes. Health is wealth. The President is not a frivolous person. If he thinks that his health cannot carry anything, he will not do it. So, of course, his health will matter a lot. It will be very important but we need to give the glory to God for the way he is now.
Adesina said regardless of President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal ambition come 2019, he is only interested in free, fair, elections that are acceptable to the citizens.
Asked to reveal what was President Buhari’s thoughts the coming elections and his personal ambition, Adesina said, “Ok. About election, the President has always said, he said it publicly before but those of us who are his aides when we talk we reiterate it that if it is the only thing he does, he wants to give free and fair elections to the country, elections that are acceptable.
“And you would have noticed that since this government came, there have been elections APC didn’t have to win.
“It was not like that in the past when a certain party was in power. They won all the elections that held in states.
“But you saw Anambra. Just this weekend, you saw a senatorial election there. Some months ago, in November, you saw the governorship election. If APC had wanted to overrun Anambra using federal might, it would do and it would win the election.
Election had held in Bayelsa under this administration, APC didn’t do it. Ondo, APC won fair and square. Kogi, it won fair and square. Where APC wins, it wins. Where it loses, it loses. That’s the attitude of the President. Your party doesn’t have to win by hook or crook.
“So, he says if it is the last thing he does, he will leave free and fair elections for Nigeria. So, he will bequeath free and fair election to Nigeria and that is happening.
“Then, talking of his own personal ambition or lack of it, we have to wait until he blows the whistle. You can’t start a race until the whistle is blown. So, when he blows the whistle and say ‘yes, this is my ambition,’ then, the race start.
“So, for now, we just say that we keep waiting on him to tell us what direction to go.”
For those advocating that Buhari tow the Nelson Mandela option of four years only, Adesina said, “Of course, this is a democracy. People will always have a right to their opinion. You know one thing about democracy is that there is multiplicity of opinion. So, those who believe in the Mandela option, it is their right. And it is also the right of the president to run or not to run. So, you don’t abridge the right of anybody under a democracy. “
On reports that President Buhari has appointed Rotimi Amaechi as his Director General of his campaign organization, the Presidential Spokesman said, “Well, me I believe that things like DG will come when you have become a candidate. If the president steps into the fray now, he’s an aspirant just like any other aspirant. Having a DG comes when you become a candidate of the party.”
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