Me, Apologize to Buhari? Never! Fayose Boasts

Fayose: I stand by my earlier claim on Buhari.

In apparent response to the threat earlier in the week by the Miyati Allah Cattle Breeders Association to sue him if he failed to apologize to President Buhari over his comments on the health of the latter, the Ekiti State helmsman, Governor Ayodele Fayose has vowed never to apologize. Rather, he asked the President to stop deceiving Nigerians and go back to his home town in Daura, Katsina State and rest.

He denied ever threatening to commit suicide should Buhari return home alive, maintaining that he stood by his earlier claim that the President was on life-support.

Earlier in the week, the umbrella body of the Fulani herdsmen, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, had threatened Fayose with a legal action if he failed to immediately apologise to President Buhari.

But speaking to leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the government office in Ekiti on Wednesday, Fayose said that his agitation brought President Buhari back home and that he has no apologies to any one not happy with his statements on Buhari.

He said, “If not for our efforts Buhari wouldn’t have returned now. Buhari is sick and tired and even his physical appearance betrayed this and he needs to go home and rest.

“Today, they have cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting. You cannot hide the truth forever, it will reveal itself someday. You cannot continue to deceive Nigerians.

“Every word that has come out of my mouth before the President returns, I have no apology for them. President Buhari was indeed in coma and one of those who visited him said his recovery is a miracle,that shows that he was indeed very sick.

“Let Buhari go back to Daura and rest. Don’t send him to early grave. Buhari is not old enough to be my father, my mother is older than Buhari, he cannot be my father, he can only be my uncle. I am close to 60. I stand by all I have said about the President. We are glad he is back, but don’t over flog him.

“I am not a sycophant and I stand to speak for Nigeria. Somebody must be able to speak on behalf of the poor masses. This was how they deceived us during the time of Yar’Adua. I am not an hypocrite and I will never be one. This country deserves a very healthy person. The office of the president is not for a sick man. The president is tired and should be allowed to resign and go and rest.”

Speaking further, Fayose said, “I have said it severally and without apologies. Everything I said when the President was away, I stand by them. The president actually went into coma and this was attested to by what one of the governors who visited him when he was abroad said that his recovery was a miracle. When somebody’s recovery is a miracle it simply means something very serious happened to the person.

“Since the President himself cannot disclose his health status and also the extent of his ailment, it apparently shows that there is so much to hide. Not until civil societies and people like us started making noise. You can’t be our president without us knowing what is happening to you. So, for me, the president went to coma July 6. Today, they can come back and organise rallies and all that; they attested to the fact the President recovered by miracle which we are glad about. We are happy that he is back but when you look physically at the President, you will see that he is emaciated tired and weak.

“You don’t have to be president at all cost, when you are tired. You go home. I don’t want to talk about 2019′ but I want to tell you that Nigeria needs a president that is agile and strong. The job is too much for an individual that does not have what it takes. It is a common saying that health is wealth. Everything is about health. We wish him well and we want him to recover but the President should throw in the towel , resign and go home.

“You see they said he would come back and resume in his office, he resumed in his office , they said rats have taken over his office! A presidential office, rats took over his office!

“Now they said he is working from home, tomorrow, they would say he is coming from bedroom. All these stories are ending up in a make believe. In a country where you have so much to do, I m not going to be a sycophants here. I am going to be on the side of the common man, the President is tired. I feel for the president like every other elderly persons, or even people who are not elderly. They could be sick. But when it comes to the issue of governing a country. There is so much responsibility to this and we must equally be able to stand up and say if the president does not have what it takes to continue, he should throw in the towel.”

On whether he would visit Buhari if asked to do so he said, “I cannot go and greet the president if invited and the reason is that such action would be misinterpreted to be something else. So, it is good for me to wish him well from a distant and be able to tell Nigerians the truth”

He said on the suicide allegation, “I can’t commit suicide because of an old man. Such are from miscreants on the social media. Let me tell you expressly, why would I commit suicide? I cannot commit suicide because of my mother. Even if they are burying my mother now, I will cleverly stay away from the grave so that I won’t fall into it. I can’t commit suicide because of Buhari. I never said that and will never make such a statement.

“Truth is that the pressure from me and many other Nigerians made the president to return home. They have been treating this matter under the table forgetting that the life of a president is an open book that can be read by everybody and anybody. What I am saying in effect is that it is in the overall interest of everybody that we have a president that is strong enough to do the job.”

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