With Buhari as president, another ‘doctrine of necessity’ is imminent, says Fayose

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has continued his jibes at Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that the former head of state is not in good health.

He said on Saturday that Nigeria cannot afford another “Yar’Adua experience” when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua took ill and eventually died in office, eventually short-changing the north in the power rotation arrangement.

The APC campaign organisation has twice denied the reports of ill health, describing them as “mischievous” and “disdainful”.

In a statement issued on his behalf by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media,  Fayose said Buhari was already “senile”.

“Senility made Buhari  not to remember the name of his running mate, choosing to call his running mate Osunbade instead of Osinbajo and also referring to Imo State as Ibo State,” he said.

Fayose alleged that Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state, knew Buhari was old and unhealthy before “imposing” him as the APC candidate.

He said Tinubu’s “evil agenda” was to once again deprive the north an eight-year term as president.

Fayose said: “God forbid, if APC wins, Tinubu’s agenda is to first get the APC presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to resign within six months for him (Tinubu) to take over as vice-president, hoping that the task of governing the country will overwhelm Buhari and aggravate his sickness, thereby paving way for Tinubu to take over as president.

“That’s the reason Tinubu plotted against a younger and vibrant northerner like Governor Rabiu  Kwankwaso and opted for a 78-year-old Buhari as the APC candidate.

“The question to ask Tinubu and his cohorts in the APC is simple: if Tinubu’s godson, Governor Babatunde Fashola is saying that 57 year old Jimi Agbaje is too old to rule Lagos State, how then can they present a 78-year-old Buhari to be President of the whole country?

“The answer is also simple, they want a president that would die in office so that they can take over Nigeria. Even during campaigns, Buhari was already collapsing.

“God will not allow these desperate people to plunge Nigeria into another crisis.

“Therefore, our brothers and sisters in the north should not be deceived by those promoting Buhari as a northern candidate. They should know that the unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria and its people is paramount, and waiting for another four years to have the presidency won’t be too much a sacrifice to make.”

The national assembly adopted the controversial doctrine of necessity to empower the then vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, to act as president following Yar’Adua’s illness, which had rendered him unable to transfer power constitutionally.