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• Queries 3-week European vacation
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Allied People’s Movement (APM) has asked the Presidency to disclose President Bola Tinubu’s health status, following concerns over his three-week vacation in Europe.
The opposition party said the length of the President’s vacation had triggered apprehension that he might be facing health challenges, insisting that the Presidency owed Nigerians an explanation.
APM National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, in a statement, said Nigerians deserved official information on Tinubu’s health as well as details of his leave, including his itinerary, entourage and schedules while abroad.
The party also questioned the timing of the vacation, arguing that the President should be at home addressing the country’s security and economic challenges.
“Moreover, that President Tinubu decided to embark on a lengthy vacation at the time he is expected to be leading from the front in finding solutions to the myriad of security and economic challenges his administration has caused the nation… raises apprehension that either he has abdicated his presidential duties or has become incapacitated,” the party said.
It added: “While it is acknowledged that nobody is above human frailties, the APM posits that there is nothing wrong in the Presidency clearing the air on the state of health of Mr. President as obtainable in other climes.”
The APM also took a swipe at Tinubu’s performance in office, describing his administration’s record in the last three years as abysmal.
It claimed that the administration’s economic policies, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and its tax regime, had pushed millions of Nigerians deeper into poverty and left businesses and households struggling.
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According to the party, Nigeria’s debt had risen to N159.28 trillion under the administration, while Nigerians had little to show for the borrowings.
The APM also accused the administration of failing to contain insecurity, claiming that more than 628,000 Nigerians had been killed and 2.2 million abducted since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.
“His administration has failed to take decisive steps to tackle insecurity and protect lives in the country,” it said.
The opposition party urged the President to use his vacation to reflect on his legacy and reconsider his reported plan to seek re-election in 2027, claiming that he had been overwhelmed by the demands of the office.
“The tasking demand of the office of Nigeria’s President at this critical time requires an energetic individual who is not above the age of 60 years, with the vitality, capacity and faculty to connect and drive contemporary leadership realities,” the APM said.
It consequently urged Tinubu to withdraw from the 2027 race and support its preferred presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, whom it described as a younger politician who had demonstrated leadership capacity as governor of Oyo State.
The party claimed Makinde had transformed Oyo into a leading economically viable state and said it wanted him to replicate the feat at the national level.
Desk point: I would still keep every explosive allegation explicitly attributed with formulations such as “APM alleged,” “the party claimed,” “according to the opposition party”. That preserves the aggression and political flavour of the statement without making the newspaper the declarant of the allegations.
