The recurring incoherent statements of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his campaign for the February 25, 2023 presidential election, has continued to raise doubt over his mental fitness for the office of the president of Nigeria.
The APC presidential candidate has been noticed to be speaking incoherently and erroneously in several public outings across the country.
From the beginning of 2022 some stakeholders in the country have noted about 10 incoherent statements of Tinubu.
The APC presidential candidate had while speaking to market women in Abuja in January, said that the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) they kept with them had expired, urging them to go for new ones. Tinubu had said, “In case they do not announce to you on time, the PVC you have has expired.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), however, told Nigerians to be weary of misinformation on expiration of PVCs, saying that the voters’ cards never expire.
Tinubu media assistant, Tunde Rahman, in a statement conveyed Tinubu’s apology of the public error. According to him, “Immediately upon being apprised of this, Tinubu apologised for the incorrect statement and felt sorry for any confusion it may have caused.”
Also, Tinubu at a colloquium on his 69th birthday in Kano in March, said that dealing with insecurity and the menace of bandits and kidnappers is not something the government cannot do. He said that the federal government should recruit 50 million soldiers to strengthen the country’s security forces, and feed them with corn and cassava, then, he paused.
According to Tinubu, “government should recruit 50 million soldiers, what will they eat, give them agbada (corn), cassava in the morning, yam in the afternoon…”
Again, Tinubu’s media assistant, Tunde Rahman, in a damage control response, said the APC presidential candidate meant recruitment of 50,000 and not 50 million soldiers.
Rahman had stated: “Asiwaju seeks the expansion of security personnel by 50,000 for the armed forces, not the 50 million that was mentioned in error. It was an accidental verbal mistake of which we all commit from time to time, especially, when reciting a series of large numerical figures.
“He did not mean 50 million youths, which is almost a quarter of our total population.”
Tinubu also misused the social media activities when he said that people are tweeting on Whatsapp.
Tinubu had in April stated: “Do you know how many of you are tweeting on WhatsApp right now?”. The ICIR reports that Whatsapp is a free instant messaging app, while Twitter is a microblogging social networking service platform where users can tweet.”
Also, Tinubu at the seventh Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest), on October 15, said that Governor Nasir El-Rufai turned a rotten situation into a bad one, citing the use of idiom if when wrongly applied.
According to Tinubu, “Some people need to understand idioms;”
“When I said he turned a rotten situation into a bad one, it is an achievement.”
The Director of media and Publicity of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, attempted correct the erroneous statement, but
Tinubu at the Arewa Joint Committee at the Arewa House, Kaduna, two days later, insisted he was right.
While all these incoherent utterances persisted in high frequency, the media managers of the Tinubu Presidential campaign declared that the APC presidential candidate cannot participate in any public debate with other candidates, or grant media interviews. The attempt to shield Tinubu from incoherent statements could no longer be sustained as the presidential campaign kicked off in September.
Tinubu at the first campaign outing in Jos, Plateau State on November 15, to the consternation of APC members and supporters at the rally, said, “God bless PD…APC.”
As though that was not significant, the APC presidential candidate, also addressed the Director general of his presidential campaign council, as Plateau State Governor Solomon ‘Dalong;’ instead of Governor Solomon Lalong.
Solomon Dalong was former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, from Plateau State also.
At a town hall meeting in Imo State on November 17, Tinubu muttered the word, “Bala Blu, Blu, Bulalaba”, in attempt to discredit public outings in the preparations for the 203 general elections. The “Bala Blu, Blu, Bulaba” did not communicate anything to the audience but become ridiculous in the public.
At the presidential campaign in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, on November 25, Tinubu presenting the APC governorship candidate in the state, said Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege would be the next governor of “Niger Delta” rather than “Delta State.”
Again, Tinubu addressing his supporters in Lagos State, on Saturday, November 26, told APC members to ensure they get their “APV” rather than PVC.
Tinubu at the Arewa Stakeholders in Kaduna on October 17, failed woefully in a global conversation on climate change, belittling Nigeria as a church rat eating poisoned holy communion.
According to Tinubu, climate change “is a question of how do you prevent a church rat from eating a poisoned holy communion?”
These unstable utterances have been generating skepticism that the APC presidential candidate is not fit to be president of the country.