Malam Adnan Na-Habu, a cousin to President Muhammadu Buhari and the official spokesman for the family has stated that the president has the chance of staying in office beyond 2019.
Na-Habu insisted that age had nothing to do with the president’s leadership style, adding that there are other leaders in Africa who are far older than him.
Speaking with Sun, Na-Habu dismissed the concern that President Buhari’s health condition may render him incapable of running the affairs of the country.
He said, “People should not forget that when this administration came in to power, Nigeria was virtually grounded, nothing was working , take electricity as an example, the generation capacity was also below 400 mega watts, but no matter how cynical one may be, he knows that electricity supply has improved. Many areas that spend weeks or months without light are now enjoying 6 to 10 hours of electricity.”
Asked whether age is affecting the performance of the president, Na-Habu said, “I know some Nigerians especially the critics of this administrations have been using age and sickness to propagate the idea that Buhari should not run this country now and beyond 2019.I don’t think there is a problem with his health as I said earlier. You see there is difference between sickness and being aged.
“When someone is aged we believe that, he cannot act the way you and I can act because of the age. Be it as it may, Nigerians should judge Mr. President by his performance not based on his age, because in Africa, there are leaders that are far older than him, and they are still in power, managing their country successfully.
“So being aged is not a deformity. Instead, the person will be given more wisdom to reason. I believe that most of the statements are coming from his opponents. It is purely politics. Obviously, by 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari has chance to continue, provided he chooses to re-contest the presidency.”