By ETIM ETIM
President Bola Tinubu Wednesday informed his party members that he will not be able to travel around the country to campaign for reelection because he wants to spend more time in office to attend to work. He spoke at the inauguration of the party’s presidential campaign council in the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. But many people are wont to believe that the president is avoiding the rigours of the campaigns for health reasons. The announcement did not seem to surprise many as it’s been a poorly kept secret to senior party members since the President returned from extended holiday in Europe late September. The 33 governors were formally informed of the development in a meeting in Abuja last night, with the party’s National Chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda noting that the President was not in the best shape to cope with the challenges of the stump. Governors, he said, will lead the campaigns in their states.
How then would this be communicated to party leaders and members across the country? It was decided that the governors should be the ones to suggest it to the President during the inauguration of the campaign council, and the lot naturally fell on Hope Uzodinma, Imo state governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum. Uzodinma’s speech was filled with praises to the president for his achievements. He repeated the well-known data on GDP growth, foreign reserves and improved fiscal headroom. ‘’Mr. President, the reforms you have started require adequate attention to complete’’, he said, and went on to ask the 74-year-old leader not to bother to campaign. He said the presidential council members would do the campaigning while the president spends more time in office attending to his work.
In his response, the President said he has accepted the governors’ request to skip the hustings and spend more time in office. “America’s credit will not wait”, he said, with many wondering what he meant.
This would be the first time in our history that a president would be missing at his reelection campaign rallies.
Nigerians have been lied to all their lives, but this one is in a class of its own. During the 2022 campaigns, Candidate Bola Tinubu managed to visit all the state capitals and spoke briefly at the rallies, but it was obvious that the stress of the campaigns were taking a toll on him.
ETIM ETIM is a veteran journalist and PR professional with over 35 years of cognate experience.
He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Policy & Politics (www.policyandpolitics.com.ng), an online newspaper dedicated to insightful analysis of Nigerian news and world’s report. He is also a columnist with BusinessDay and The Cable and is a regular contributor to other newspapers.
Contact: +234802 3159969 (WhatsApp Only)
