Mohammed Yakubu, a member of the national executive committee of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), says the north will vote President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 even if he is on a wheelchair.
In an interview The Sun, Yakubu said it was improper for people to mount pressure on Buhari to resign because he is battling with his health.
“I will not advise him to resign. You will recall that when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was asking the then ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to resign, I granted an interview to your newspaper, as the youth leader of Northern Union, telling Nigerians that even on a wheelchair, we will support Yar’Adua to rule the country. Unfortunately, he died,” he said.
“I am also making the same statement today that Buhari should not resign, even if he is on a wheelchair, north and people of Nigeria will vote him in 2019. I am not just associating myself with Buhari, I am advocating for good governance under President Buhari.
“I don’t think that it is proper for anybody to humiliate Buhari out of office by mounting pressure on him to resign. It is not fair; it is not just, it is not proper.
“We have election timetable if you don’t like him, vote him out during the election, but I will not support anybody that will want to humiliate the president out of office. As long as he is alive, it is not right to demand of him to resign.”
Yakubu thanked Nigerians for rendering prayers on behalf of Buhari.
He said the kind of support Buhari has received during his illness is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
“I must first of all thank Nigerians for their support and prayer for President Muhammadu Buhari, their support and prayer have been unprecedented in the history of Nigeria,” he said.
“There is no Nigerian leader that has received this type of support and prayer in our recent history. I must first of all thank them. The president’s health challenge is something that can happen to anybody. We had President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, this type of health condition happened to him. So in the case of Buhari, he had transmitted power to his deputy, as constitution demanded, and I think there is nothing to fear.
“If he had not transmitted power to his deputy or his case was like that of Yar’Adua, I would have been more worried. And so far the acting president is capable; he has shown some level of vibrancy, there is no cause for alarm.
“God forbid bad thing, supposing the president dies today, there is nothing anybody can do. God has appointed a time for every human being to be born and to die. For now, we will continue to pray for our president and wish him quick return to the country. And I will continue to appreciate Nigerians who are praying and supporting the president.”
