A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State and Convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fit to continue running the country beyond 2027.
He dismissed allegations that the President had just returned from a medical vacation.
Speaking on Thursday in Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, during a town hall meeting as part of his advocacy to rally support for President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, Showunmi stated that the President’s absence from the just-concluded United Nations General Assembly was not due to ill health but to a working vacation during which critical investments were secured for the country, including a $700 billion gas investment and a $17 billion seaport investment for Ogun State.
He maintained that those peddling rumours about the President’s health are naysayers indulging in self-hate and rejoicing only in bad news.
According to him, the way President Tinubu was seen bouncing when he alighted from the plane does not suggest someone unfit.
Showunmi stressed that the Presidency is one, and wherever the Vice President acts in a representative capacity, it is as good as the President himself being present, adding that what matters is that Nigeria was duly represented at the UNGA.
He said, ‘The President is in good health. The President is in sound mind. The way you saw him bouncing as he came off the plane, does that look like someone who was unwell? You must beg the people of Nigeria. You cannot indulge in continuous self-hate to the point that all you’re looking for is bad news.
‘The United Nations that people talk about, they probably don’t know that the presidency is one. Anywhere you see the Vice President acting in the capacity of the President’s representative, it is as good as the President standing there.
‘Look at the President. Should he have left a $700 billion investment in gas in this country so that I can sit down and be taking pictures with some people in the United Nations? Or should he have left the $17 billion investment in a seaport for our Ogun State while he’s busy taking pictures? The ones who have been going to the United Nations all these days, including the one we even did with Tafawa Balewa, the Golden Voice of Africa, what has been the result? The United Nations is just a gathering of one person saying, ‘Yes, sir, I am here; they’ve seen me, and Nigeria has been represented, and that is enough.
‘Never listen to the ideas of naysayers. Never listen to the ideas of people who hate themselves and only laugh at mischief and at bad news. You will never hear them, especially those so-called presidential candidates. They will never rejoice if anything good comes to Nigeria. By the time they hear there’s a small challenge, they’ll be rejoicing.’ Showunmi stated.
He said the rationale behind his visit to Ijebu North, which, according to him, is one of the most influential local governments in Ogun East alongside Sagamu, was to urge the people not just to vote for the President, but to cast as many votes as possible.
He, however, lamented that Ogun did not match its population strength at the polls, noting that with almost 3 million registered voters, the state has no reason not to produce vote totals that can rival those of Kano, Katsina and Kaduna.