The presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is expected in Nigeria before the end of the day, Special Assistant on Digital Communications to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has said.
Tinubu left the country on September 24. The news of his travel triggered a wave of speculations about his health, with rumours swirling about his death, especially following his inability to attend the peace accord ceremony in Abuja.
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In an attempt to debunk the rumours about his health, Tinubu posted an eight seconds video of himself riding a bike, as proof that he was fine.
The presidential hopeful also tweeted through his verified Twitter handle and declared that he was hale and hearty and ready to serve Nigeria from day one.
He tweeted, “Many have said I have died; others claimed I have withdrawn from the presidential race. Well…nope. This is the reality: I am strong, I am healthy and I am ready to serve Nigeria from day one.”
That was followed by another picture of him wearing a suit while having a conversation with Idowu and Subair on Tuesday in London. All that, however, did little to stop the speculation about his health.
Weighing in, Spokesperson of the APC campaign council, Festus Keyamo, had said he was unaware of the location of Tinubu.
Keyamo said this when he appeared on Channels TV program, ‘Politics Today’ on Wednesday night.
Dismissing speculations that Tinbu had travelled out of the country to seek medical assistance, he argued that those who have raised concerns are only mischief makers.
He said, “Our candidate is not in the country currently and I don’t have any information on where he is. I know he will be back in a couple of days but I don’t know the particular day. He is also not on a medical trip; I don’t have such information. It is not true that we have not started campaigns because the candidate is sick and is not around.”
In a tweet he posted around 4pm on Thursday, Ahmad, who is also a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, wrote, “After days of intensive political consultations and meetings in London, our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is expected back in Abuja, later today.”
While the former Lagos State governor was in London, he held several consultative meetings with some prominent Nigerians, including billionaire businessman, Yemi Idowu, who had shown interest in investing in Nollywood, and the owner of the defunct hiTv, Toyin Subair.
Tinubu is returning at a time when the APC is yet to release activities of its campaign unlike the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A fresh crisis broke out in the ruling party after the 422-member list of the campaign council was released by Hon. James Faleke.
