The current working visit of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) retired General Muhammadu Buhari is one visit that ignited serious political fireworks for more than a week.
Buhari’s working visit to the United Kingdom, which the opposition party said is part of its campaign engagements outside the shores of the country, has generated unprecedented interest and attacks from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its members.
No sooner had the APC presidential campaign organisation announced, about 10 days ago, that its candidate was travelling to the United Kingdom for engagements than the political fireworks started.
On the Thursday Buhari left, the social media platforms of the PDP were replete with stories that Buhari was “sick and flown to London on air ambulance.”
Explanations by the APC campaign office that Buhari had travelled to the United Kingdom for engagements with British policy makers in Chatham House London didn’t seem to convince the ruling party’s foot soldiers enough to back out.
A statement by the media and publicity director of Buhari Campaign Organization Malam Garba Shehu that fateful Thursday said Buhari had left Abuja on a short working visit to the UK.
He said: “In the course of this visit, Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.”
“General Buhari would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House in London,” Shehu said.
But instead of debunking the rumour, the explanation of Buhari’s itinerary further emboldened other PDP chieftains to launch further attacks.
Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose dived into the fray and said that Buhari was indeed sick and receiving treatment at Cavendish Hospital, London.
Fayose, it would be recalled, had sponsored front-page death-wish advertorials in some newspapers, indicating that Buhari would die in office like Generals Sani Abacha and Umaru Musa Yar’adua did.
The advertisement generated serious controversy, compelling his party, the PDP to “distance” itself from the inglorious adverts. But Fayose remained unperturbed.
To dispel the illness rumour, the Buhari handlers released his photographs walking after his arrival at the Heathrow Airport.
The next day Friday, Buhari began his engagements by granting an interview to a local medium, the All Eyes on Africa TV Show hosted by Kemi Fajodutimi.
He also had a morning meeting with former Prime Minister of Britain Mr Tony Blair and an interactive session with Nigerian professionals in Diaspora on Saturday.
Buhari also visited the London residence of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, at about 1.30 pm UK time and returned to his rented flat in the city same Saturday.
Instead of dousing the fireworks, the General’s engagement further triggered the likes of Fayose who, in a press conference last Monday, insisted that Buhari was bedridden in Cavendish Square, saying that all the photographs from the airport, the interview, the Blair’s visit, were stage-managed.
The Ekiti governor, who addressed journalist in Abuja, said “the picture which was widely published by the media was taken in Suite 881 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja.”
“Buhari is on the sick bed at Cavendish Square London. They should come out and say so. The APC has been trying to cover it up by not allowing him travel out, but the man knows he is sick and so he decided to go for medical check,” Fayose said.
Taking journalists round Suite 881 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Fayose said the purported interview with Fadojutimi in London actually took place in the suite.
He took his time drawing comparison of the sofa, paintings, table lamp, the flower vase, the lighting points and DSTV magazine in the suite with what was published on the papers.
An online newspaper inquired from the office of Tony Blair in London to confirm whether he met with Buhari, and the office confirmed that meeting actually took place in Blair’s office, not Buhari’s “hospital bed.” But the matter refused to die.
Alarmed by Fayose’s death wishes of its candidate, the Buhari campaign office appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to call the Ekiti State governor to order.
In a statement, its spokesperson Shehu said the APC campaign had learnt on good authority that Governor Fayose has hired people in London who have been trailing the movements of the APC presidential candidate while on his working visit in London.
“Let it be on record that knowing Governor Fayose’s antecedents, we are not leaving anything to chances. The governor who has published death-wish advertorials on Buhari will stop at nothing. If anything should happen to General Muhammadu Buhari while in London or anywhere else, the authorities over there in the UK and at home should know who to hold responsible,” he said.
The recriminations continued as APC chieftains who included governors visited Buhari in London, taking photographs with him.
But even a confirmation from Chatham House that Buhari would speak in one of its engagements last Thursday didn’t convince Fayose and his likes to mellow down.
Last Monday, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) posted on its website that Buhari would be speaking on the topic “Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition.”
The programme to be chaired by Sir Richard Gozney, former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, will commence at 10am London time and last for an hour,” it said.
“The postponement of Nigeria’s fifth election since its return to civilian rule in 1999, together with fierce political competition, a security crisis and severe economic challenges linked to the drop in oil price, has thrown into sharp relief the challenges of conducting this essential process in such a complex environment.
“While there is widespread speculation as to the reasons for the delay, there is also widespread acknowledgment of the necessity that national elections do now take place as scheduled on 28 March,” Chatham House said.
There was a sigh of relief from many Nigerians when Chatham House announced also that there would be a live streaming of the event commencing at 10am GMT and all those wishing to pose a question to General Buhari were advised to do so via Twitter using the hash tag #CHAfrica.
The controversy changed after Chatham House confirmation of Buhari’s engagement with it. The ruling party’s media handlers went to town with another story that Buhari was actually in London to meet some Arabs billionaires who would fund his campaign. Some newspapers even carried the story on front pages.
On the eve of the Chatham House event, another story broke that PDP had hired some African-Americans to “disrupt” Buhari’s lecture. It turned out that some protesters went to the venue last Thursday only that they were outnumbered by the APC supporters.
Finally, Buhari appeared in Chatham House where he had a meeting with another Britain former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The APC flag bearer addressed the gathering for one hour which was live-streamed and took some questions.
Responding to a question about his health, Buhari said he was certified fit by his doctors to run for the office of the president.
“I am fit. My doctors have declared me fit. I am going back home for the final phase of the campaign to win the elections,” he said.
Buhari said he often laughed whenever he heard stories that he was either bedridden or dead. “I just laugh when I hear some people wishing me dead or saying I was dead,” he said.
Buhari’s public appearance in Chatham House didn’t go down well with his opponents in the ruling party.
In an instant reaction to the London event, the PDP presidential campaign office media director Chief Femi Fani-Kayode described Buhari’s appearance “as a stage show of shame.”
“It is amazing that a man that refuses to participate in a debate in his own country is so ready to go to a foreign country to sell his message in a desperate attempt to curry favour with the people of that country,” Fani-Kayode said.
Fani-Kayode added that “for now, all we can say is that it is truly pitiful that a former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria believes that it is more important to win the hearts and minds of the British than it is to win the hearts and minds of the Nigerian people.”
In the same vein, PDP in a statement by its spokesperson Olisa Metuh described the London event as “a script well written, a script well acted, all a truthful lie. The messenger belies the message.”
“We wish to urge General Buhari to quickly channel his message and energies home, meet Nigerians who are choking up with questions on his capacity to lead. He may realize ultimately too, that politics in this instance is local and shall be decided locally,” PDP said.
It is not clear yet if the Chatham House event would finally put to rest Buhari’s illness theory, just as his certificate controversy seems to have been finally laid to rest.
Source:
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