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Guardian News – Houston, TX – With less than six weeks to the general elections, campaign activities of All Progressives Congress (APC) have suffered another setback over a tenaciously weakening health of its flag bearer, Muhammadu Buhari. The ex-general was secretly rushed to the United Kingdom for treatment, aboard a British Airways, according to authentic party sources.
Buhari’s travel arrangement was made by a few close confidants under an emergency circumstance, and shielded from the key members of the campaign. The information it was gathered made it to the media quicker than expected, throwing the entire campaign into confusion. As of press time, the campaign is grounded in confusion, leaving inadvertent activities to small party groups and social media cliques with little or no knowledge of precise materials that represent the party objectives.
A regional campaign leader who came to Abuja for a meeting, told International Guardian under strict anonymity, that his meeting was cancelled without any specific reasons. “That is unusual to me, because this is a very crucial moment in this campaign and not a period to be travelling up and down,” he said. Other campaign leaders have voiced out condemnation of a lack of transparency about campaign activities. For instance, a campaign consultant attached to the social media told our reporter expressed similar concerns, saying “We really need to get everybody on the same page. We are all not just focusing in the right direction. How can I defend the fact that my presidential candidate left abroad just like that to meet who? Why the rush and why the secrecy?”
To unstiffen the blows created by the embarrassment, the Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of campaign, Mallam Garba Shehu claimed the general had travelled to the UK for official reasons. According to his statement, “Buhari would hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.” The statement further claimed that “General Buhari will hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House in London.”
Excuses from the Buhari’s camp, it was gathered, angered some campaign members close to Buhari’s running mate, Dr. Yemi Osinbajo who were outraged that even the aspiring vice president was always left out of major party activities and decisions. “You can imagine the insult – yes I mean the insult that, in my position in this campaign, I have to read everything about the campaign in the social media. If the man is sick – so what? We should be working as a party not as individuals,” another aggrieved APC senior campaign member told our field reporter in Abuja. He continued, “How can a presidential candidate travel abroad for whatever reason without telling his running mate? This is exactly what happened during the Yar’Adua regime, and you can see the same thing repeating itself.”
Buhari’s campaign activities have suffered a severe setback recently over poor health. Last month, videos of his fragile comportment, lack of memory, and speech inaudibility were circulated in the social media – creating another major distraction among his campaign team. Last month, International Guardian reported how speculations that Buhari’s may not make it through a four-year term if he won because of a visibly deteriorating health fuelled a suspicious relationship between General Buhari’s camp and Dr. Osibanjo. Buhari had allegedly accused the Tinubi/Osibanjo camp of praying for his death – a situation similar to the late President Shehu Musa Yar’Adua when critics accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of nominating a sick candidate to jeopardize chances allotted to the Northern zone in the party.
Another distractive bombshell of the Buhari campaign came up when a revelation made by Buhari’s former running mate in the 2011 election, Dr. Tunde Bakare to Kadaria Ahmed, the host of Straight talk with Kadaria confirm a reported scam proposed to him under a merger of the Congress for the Progressive Change (CPC) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 presidential race. Prophetic-Apostolic pastor revealed how he was actually persuaded to sign a resignation letter as the vice president ahead of a possible election victory, but he rejected the offer as “illegal” and “perjury.” The video clip resurfaced in the social media creating another round of discord within the Buhari’s campaign, and fuelling rumors that Dr. Osinbajo may have accepted a similar deal prior to his nomination – a claim Osinbajo’s camp categorically denied.
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