Old age won’t affect my job – Buhari

He said that at 72 he has in quantum, the wisdom, the patience, the temperance and forbearance that age brings and has brought all these virtues to the presidency to make a difference in our national life.

The president said this ,yesterday, in Abuja, in response to reports quoting him as saying while addressing the Nigerian community in Johannesburg, South Africa, that his age will limit his performance.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said the president’s comments in South Africa were totally taken out of context to mean that he was too old for the demands of the office.
President Muhammadu Buhari chairs the meeting of the Peace and Security Council at the 25th AU Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday

President Muhammadu Buhari chairs the meeting of the Peace and Security Council at the 25th AU Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday

The Presidency spoke as Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State urged Nigerians not to politicize the issue, saying that the time for political campaigns was well past. He rather asked Nigerians to pray for the President for him to have the grace to execute the demands of his office.

The governor’s assertion came as a fringe group in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which called itself the PDP Media Watchdogs demanded the President’s resignation upon comments made in South Africa on Monday night.

The PDP Media Watchdogs was immediately disowned by the mainstream PDP which claimed ignorance of the group, saying that the language of the group was strange to the party’s posture, which is to only engage in healthy opposition to the administration. The PDP nevertheless, said that the PDP Media Watchdogs may have been instigated by the kind of bitter language used by the All Progressives Congress, APC, against former President Goodluck Jonathan while he was in power.

The ruling APC equally chided the PDP Media Watchdogs, describing their call as the product of deliberate mischief and a result of their members’ poor understanding of the English language.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, clarifying remarks given by the President to the Nigerian community in Johannesburg in a statement titled- “Like Good Wine, President Buhari Gets Better With Age”, said:

“On Monday evening, President Muhammadu Buhari spoke with the Nigerian community at the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“Speaking extempore, because according to him, he wanted to “speak from the heart,” the President urged them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria, a country he went to the war front to keep together.

“Still extolling the virtues of our country, Nigeria, the President, who had served as a military governor of the then North-Eastern State at 33 years old, declared: ”I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do.”

“The above comments have been reported by some newspapers to mean that the President was saying he was too old to cope with the demands of his office. Far from it.

“As the saying goes, “old wines are tasty” and the President Buhari we have today is a man, like old wine, that has got tastier. At 72, yes, he can’t be called a youth, but he has in quantum the wisdom, the patience, temperance and forbearance that age brings. And all these virtues he has brought to the Presidency, to make a difference in our national life.

“The President assured the Nigerian community in South Africa that his administration will make a positive impact on the country.

“Insecurity, as symbolized by insurgency, will be brought to an end, corruption will be fought to a standstill, employment will be created for the teeming army of unemployed, the economy will be revived, and the quality of life of Nigerians will take an upward swing again. These will not come by a sudden flight, but they will happen in the life of this administration.

“At 72, the Buhari persona has not changed. He remains the simple, honest, incorruptible patriot he has always been. And because Nigerians earnestly desired change, that was why they voted for him overwhelmingly at the general elections in March, this year. All the virtues and values of the Buhari persona will be deployed into governance in the weeks and months ahead.

“The Nigerian community in South Africa was enthralled as President Buhari spoke with them on Monday. In fact, leaving the venue was an effort, as they swarmed around the President, who shook hands with as many of them as he could.

“They took his message well. That is the essence of good wine. It gets better with age. And it is a message for all Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora.”

Pray for Buhari — Fayose

Governor Fayose, who had during the campaigns raised issues about the President’s age, was very conciliatory yesterday, urging that the comments should not be politicised even as he called for prayers for the President to discharge his duties.

“No, no, we cannot comment on that, but all that we owe the President is to pray for him to be able to do the demands of his office,” the governor’s spokesman, Mr. Lere Olayinka said yesterday.

“Election is gone, and all that was done in the past is past and the time for election campaign is gone,” he restated yesterday.

PDP fringe group flays Buhari

Earlier, yesterday, a fringe group in the opposition PDP had upon the published assertion demanded the resignation of President Buhari from office for the reason of dwindling productivity in old age.

The group in a statement issued by one Tunde Lawal said:

“It’s barely three weeks into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his age is already telling on him, so, what will happen to Nigeria in the remaining 1,440 days of this government? It’s better to find a black goat in the day time rather than looking for it in the night and this is why we are asking President Buhari to resign now because Nigerians will not entertain further excuses of why the APC cannot deliver on its campaign promises.”

Not part of us— PDP

The group was immediately disowned by the mainstream PDP which through a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said:

“This group is absolutely unknown to the PDP and has no connection whatsoever with our party at any level, neither is the content of their statement a reflection of the position or stance of the party.

“For the avoidance of doubt, our great party has not authorized this group to use its name, acronym or logo to issue statements or make public pronouncements on any matter and we caution those behind them to henceforth desist from such immediately.

“The PDP, therefore, distances itself from the embarrassing statement by this group wherein it called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign and went ahead to use offensive and denigrating language on the person and office of the President of our great country.

“This is completely unacceptable and against the posture of the PDP to engage only in robust and credible opposition while constructively offering alternatives to the programmes and policies of the APC-led government, preparatory to our return to power in the next four years.

“We note with dismay that the attitude of this group is a direct consequence of the approach adopted by the APC in denigrating and insulting our immediate-past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. “Though we know that former President Jonathan suffered such fate in the hands of the APC, we shall not repay them in the same coin as such is not part of our tradition and values as a party.

APC reacts

Responding to the PDP Media Watchdog, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a statement accused the group of mischief and of poor knowledge of the English language.

“What President Buhari was saying, which was lost on those who issued that jejune statement, is that only his love and passion for the country could have made him, at his age, to come out of retirement to seek the office of President, over 30 years after he presided over the affairs of the country.

“For 16 years, Nigerians gave the PDP the benefit of the doubt to move the country forward, but instead, the party put Nigeria in reverse gear at a high speed, spinning it towards a doomsday that was only averted when Nigerians showed the PDP the red card. This is what necessitated President Buhari to continuously seek the country’s highest political office, so he can help put the country on a forward march again. Nothing else matters, not for him the excitement of an office he previously held and the quest for personal accomplishment.

“If the country had been well managed, President Buhari will not at 72 be crisscrossing the whole world seeking solution to Nigeria’s problems”, it said.

The party said only anarchists and non-democrats will ask a president who has not spent one month in office to resign, adding: “It rankles when those making these calls are from the ranks of the party that failed to avail itself creditably in 16 years.”

Labour Party blasts president

The National Chairman of Labour Party, Alhaji Abdukadir Abdulsalam also flayed the remarks by the president, saying it was an admission of failure.

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, Abdulsalam said: “This is an expression of failure on his part because when he was campaigning, he gave us the impression that he was hale, healthy, and not fragile, has the capacity, ability and agility to carry out the function of state as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”


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