Buhari clears air on health, certificates

 … Accuses PDP of desperation

From IHEANACHO NWOSU, Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential can­didate, General Muhammadu Buhari, yes­terday denied that he was grappling with health is­sues even as he dismissed the controversy trailing his academic certificates as diversionary and an act of desperation on the part of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking for the first time on issues bordering on his person and which are rais­ing dust in the polity, Buhari told newsmen in Abuja that he was hale and hearty and could defeat a 50-year-old person in a field contest.

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 we go to the field, you would not last the time I will last.”

He continued: “Vanguard reported that I was to jet out for medical check-up yester­day, but here I am. I was at Nasarawa and Benue states yesterday (Saturday). To­morrow, 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 but that did not stop me from going through my schedule.

“I don’t know of this des­peration. The issue we are telling Nigerians is that of corruption in this country. In the last 16 years, PDP has literally destroyed this country. This is the issue we are focusing on. What does my health got to do with that one? They claim that I have been sick on daily ba­sis. They even put docu­ments on paper, on Face­book, tweeter etc, that I am sick and the ABU said they are forged documents. This desperation is beyond my understanding.”

Responding to questions on his academic certificates, the former head of state said he was surprised that some people were making an is­sue out of whether or not he went to school.

He wondered why his cer­tificates that were not an is­sue in the three times he vied for presidency, had suddenly became a major concern in some circles.

Buhari said: “I have con­tested three times under the same rules set by the Inde­pendent National electoral Commission (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. 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.

“Really, this desperation is getting too much. This misinformation 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 government.”

On the allegation that his time in the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) was fraught with corruption, the APC candidate said former Presi­dent Olusegun Obasanjo had taken care of critics making such allegations.

He said: “That one has been cleared. There was 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.

“What else can I say, the person who did the investi­gation because he was the head of state at the time of the probe has cleared the is­sue.”

He noted that there was rising poverty and unem­ployment because the gov­ernment was mismanaging the economy, adding: “The country is broke now. How many states cannot pay their workers’ salaries now? Even in December, most families were hungry during Christ­mas because state and fed­eral governments could not pay their workers’ salaries. Yet, they are talking about my health instead of focus­ing on paying workers.”

Buhari said he would not be distracted in his cam­paign by what he called fictitious claims regarding his health status and certifi­cates.

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