A former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, has called on elder statesmen across the country to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from office and attend to his health.
He said, “The strong and fearless Buhari Nigerians used to know would never be the same again.”
Debunking the allegation that Buhari chose to work from home because of the invasion of his office by rodents, the former minister said there was no way the Buhari that Nigerians used to know could have been chased away from his office by mere rats.
Fani-Kayode, who made the call in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said, “I did say the President was not going back and I maintain that position. I have no apology for saying so because the Buhari we are seeing today is not the Buhari that we knew and saw before.
“The Buhari that we saw before was a man of courage, strength, hero of Chad and a man that we all respected and revered. He led our troops to Chad in 1979/1980 and gained a lot of ground.
“The Buhari that we knew before was a man that vied for the Presidency on three separate occasions, kept coming back and succeeded on the fourth attempt. He was a man of courage and strength; but the Buhari that came back is not the same man.
“Having been away for a 104 days; instead of standing his ground and taking care of his health, he scampered back the following morning because he couldn’t take the criticisms and the embarrassment before the international community. That is the new Buhari, not the old Buhari.”
Fani-Kayode said it was sad that Buhari could also not inspect the guard of honour mounted for him by the military at the airport when he arrived in the country, alleging also that Buhari could not afford to do a six-minute live broadcast to Nigerians when he arrived, but chose to do a recorded broadcast.
“The new Buhari arrived in Nigeria. We saw him alight from the plane, waved to the crowd, got on the podium and they played the national anthem but he didn’t have the strength and wherewithal to inspect the guard of honour that was mounted for him.
“That is the new Buhari. The following thing that happened was this: He promised Nigerians that he would do a live broadcast in which he would tell us a number of key issues but the new Buhari could not do a live broadcast.
“He did a recorded broadcast because he was too weak and feeble to do a live broadcast. And it didn’t stop there; the new Buhari could not go to his office because they claimed that rats and rodents have taken over the office,” he said, stressing that “the old Buhari would not run away from rats, the new Buhari does.
“Finally, a day after that, the Federal Executive Council, the most important that runs the affairs the nation, the new Buhari called off the weekly FEC meeting because he said he was receiving a report.
“Maybe the rats have penetrated the council chambers as well. The old Buhari has not come back and will never come back. This man is not well. It is not his fault and it’s nothing that anybody should gloat about.”
He, therefore, called on those that truly loved the President to tell him the truth by asking him to resign, go home and take care of himself.
He said those that hated him would encourage him until he relapsed and go back to London.
The former minister said that nobody prayed for the death of the President, but added that if Buhari were to be his father, he would have asked him to resign.
“The right and proper thing for any elder statesman to do is to call and demand for the resignation of President Buhari who is simply not well enough to run the affairs of the nation.
“I have nothing against him but when it is clear that the Lord Himself is sending a signal by all these signs and wonders. The last time I heard of rats pursuing people, I read about it in the Bible when Pharaoh was tormented by frogs, flies and various plaques.”
