As the 2019 general elections draw near, a concerned caller in a privately owned radio station in Akwa Ibom State has lent his voice in calling for appointment of experts to conduct physical and mental health tests for candidates contesting for governorship, state and National Assemblies’ positions in the country.
This is as Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) said President Muhammadu Buhari; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and all other candidates contesting the 2019 presidential election should be subjected to mental health test.
The caller, one Inemesit Akpan who spoke during Peoples Parliament programme hosted by Planet 101.1 FM, Uyo, on Monday said he was happy to throw his weight behind CUPP in calling on the relevant agencies in the country to appoint experts to conduct the tests for the public office seekers whom the electorates would entrust their destiny into hands.
He argued that it was improper to allow people who have not been certified medically fit to hold public office for majority as this will not allow them to roll out obnoxious policies which could affect the destinies of the governed.
Recall that CUPP, Sunday, said the test should be conducted by an independent team of experts in mental health issues.
The coalition’s demand was contained in a statement by its first national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere.
Ugochinyere said the test was necessary in order to ascertain the state of the mental health of the presidential candidates “so that any person who does not pass the examination should not be allowed to participate in the election.”
He stated, “A country of about 200 million people cannot be living and thriving under the situation of being in doubt of the mental stability of the man who holds their mandate to lead and who is seeking an extension of that mandate.
“The international community is also expressing a similar doubt, hence their reactions to the economy and the withdrawal of their businesses from the country. At no other particular time in the history of Nigeria has the number of businesses that closed down in the almost four years of the Buhari presidency happened before in Nigeria.”
