Former APC acting chairman, Chief Bisi Akande has said President Mohammadu
Buhari is surrounded by greedy and unpatriotic elements who are using the
president’s ill health to feed fat.
Akande who said he fears for anarchy in the country over the ill health of
the President believes Buhari’s zeal and patriotism must have affected
his health, which he said has direct impact on the health of the nation.
In the statement, the APC chieftain noted that the President is surrounded
by “mostly unpatriotic and greedy ruling class”.
He also flayed the gulf between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
The former Osun State governor warned those who plan to feast on the
President’s health status for their selfish political gains, reminding
them of the consequences of such behaviour.
The statement reads: “The health of the leader is intricately intertwined
with the health of the nation. It is more so in a delicately fragile Union
of Nations called Nigeria. I did not see President Buhari at the wedding
of his grand son in Kaduna last Saturday. I was sad and I wept.
“When last we met at the wedding of his daughter in Abuja last December, I
complained to him that I was not happy about his stressful looks. His
reply connoted some allusions to circumstances where an honest man
fighting corruption is surrounded mostly by unpatriotic greedy ruling
class.
“He felt painfully frustrated. He assured me he would soon be going on
vacation. I then knew that corruption has effectively been fighting back.
And I prayed for Nigeria.
“That was why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I rushed to meet him in London in
February this year when he was sick and could not return as scheduled from
his vacation. The rest is history but we must appreciate that his poor
health is already taking a toll on the health of Nigeria as a polity.
“There are two challenges facing the country today. The first and most
critical is the health of the President which, unfortunately, is a
development beyond his control and for which we did not prepare. The
second is the disorder and lack of cohesion between the National Assembly
and the Presidency.
“These are two great red flag dangers that have the potential of plunging
the country into unprecedented chaos and of destabilising the gains of
democracy since 1999.
“The greatest danger however is for political interests at the corridor of
power attempting to feast on the health of Mr President in a dangerous
manner that may aggravate the problems between the Executive and the
National Assembly without realising if, in the end, it could drag the
entire country into avoidable doom.
“As delicately fragile the Union of Nations making up Nigeria, so
delicately fragile the democracy and the rule of laws governing the polity
of the Union called Nigerian Federation. Certain Nigerian leaders, having
been blind-folded by corruption, assume the possibility of using money in
manipulating the national security agencies to intimidate, suppress and
hold down certain ethnic nationalities or playing one ethnic nationality
against the other with a view to undermining the constitution and
perversely upturning the rule of law.
“To avoid the ugly consequences of letting President Buhari’s ailments
throw Nigeria into confusion, I am urging all Nigerians to begin to pray
for his divine healing and perfect recovery.
“Let me warn today that those who wish to harvest political gains out of
the health of the President are mistaken. This is not Nigeria of 1993. We
are in a new national and global era of constitutionalism and order. We
hope Nigerians have enough patience to learn from history.
“My greatest fear, however, is that the country should not be allowed to
slide into anarchy and disorder of a monumental proportion.”