Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has told the Presidency stop lying to Nigerians about the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, warning that Nigeria cannot afford to have another constitutional crisis due to Mr. President’s health condition.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu had on Monday slammed Mohammed, stating his “kind of critics is toxic to national progress because they are only primarily interested in destroying every positive effort and achievements of the government”.
While claiming that the ex-lawmaker is suffering from pathological cynicism, Shehu said Nigerians should be “wary of prejudiced and biased critics like Dr. Junaid Mohammed who are more interested in personal publicity than respecting facts and figures about their claims”.
But reacting to Shehu’s statement, Mohammed said the presidential spokesman should stop feeding Nigerians with lies regarding Buhari’s health condition, asserting that General Sani Abacha remains one of the healthiest President Nigeria ever had.
He insisted that the country has not fared well under Buhari’s leadership, lamenting that nothing seems to be working as Nigerians are presently worse off than they were before the President was sworn-in to office on May 29, 2015.
Vanguard reports Mohammed as saying, “I believe Shehu is under pressure which is why he attacked me. However, I believe strongly they need to stop lying to Nigerians about Mr President’s health. Can they actually tell Nigerians what this medical leave or routine check-up is? They don’t seem to be telling us the truth”.
Disclosing that he has been Buhari’s friend since when he was a second lieutenant in the Army, Mohammed asserted that he cannot shy away from speaking truth to power.
His words, “If I am to comment on issues that concern Nigerians, I won’t shy away from telling President Buhari the home truth anywhere he is making mistakes. I criticized General Abacha as Head of State and told him some truths in private and sometimes face to face. I believe if people can challenge their friends in power, it shows they are not intimidated by the powerful.
“If Aisha Buhari can say what she said about her husband, I think the President needs to check himself and retrace his steps on some issues that concern the country. I think the question the President needs to ask himself is that after one he has taken over the reins of power, what has changed? Is Nigeria better off than when he took over on May 29, 2015? The truth is that Nigeria is worse off today than when Buhari took over the reins of power.
“Every Nigerian today is worse off and nothing seems to be working under this government. Some who are rich in 2015 cannot say same today due to the economic woes that Nigeria is presently experiencing and we cannot continue to close our eyes off it.
“This administration has failed in taming the economic woes that seems to have turned everyone poor in present day Nigeria. Even though the administration made some giant strides in the fight against Boko Haram, the country is still not safe as people still live in fears even in Kano today. “And there is also political crisis in the party where President won his own election. So the President seems to be at war with everyone including the National Assembly members.”
“I believe President Buhari should engage in turning around the fortunes of Nigeria economically, politically and security-wise. By now, his administration should have stopped blaming the Jonathan government for their woes. I believe that in Politics, you take assets and liabilities,” Mohammed declared.
