The Director of Publicity for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Yusuf Bala Ibrahim, has said he was unaware of the whereabouts of the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu.
Featuring on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Friday, Ibrahim said he knew the former Lagos State governor was alive but had no knowledge of where he was.
Tinubu reportedly jetted out to Europe shortly after approving the list of his 422-man campaign council, which has now been a subject of controversy within the party.
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He was absent at the signing of a peace pact heralding campaigns for the 2023 polls in Abuja on Thursday.
Instead, he sent his running mate, Kashim Shettima, a senator and former governor of Borno State.
The APC candidate, who many reports claimed was having a running battle with his party’s chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and other stalwarts over his campaign council list, remains away from Nigeria days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) approved the kick-off of electioneering.
There have been claims he travelled for a medical check-up.
The ICIR reported on the possibility of the APC candidate suffering from Parkinson’s disease because his hands and legs shake intermittently.
He has been silent on the condition.
Many Nigerians are waiting to have more grasp of the true state of his health during campaigns in which he will be physically involved.
Ibrahim told the TV hosts that Tinubu broke no law by sending Shetima to the signing of the peace pact on Thursday. “It is one presidency. They are going on the same ticket. The president and his running mate are on the same ticket. If,for any reason, the presidential candidate is not there but his running mate is there, I don’t know if that is not technically present. That is left to legal interpretation.
“As far as I am concerned, Tinubu was properly represented. And for what was done yesterday, Tinubu has signed the agreement for peace,” he said.
He also said of Tinubu’s whereabouts, “I am not the presidential candidate nor am I the vice presidential candidate. The question of where the presidential candidate is at the moment is something that he can best answer.
“But the last time I check, he was alive and was on earth. Where he is may not necessarily be availed to me. But we saw on social media yesterday and today pictures of him in the company of other people were displayed, showing that he is hale and hearty.
“According to the social media publication, he is said to be in London, but I am not giving you an authoritative answer. I have been told he is alive and he will soon be back from wherever he is.”
When asked a similar question by one of the hosts, he restated that Tinubu did not inform him when he was travelling.
Ibrahim, however, boasted that his party would win next year’s polls, as, according to him, President Muhammadu Buhari has performed excellently to enable the APC to remain in government after his tenure.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org