The Presidency said Tuesday that those insinuating that the European Union, the United States and Saudi Arabia were persuading President Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019 were afraid of their shadows.
The Presidency also said the purveyors of such insinuation were afraid that President Buhari will defeat them in any election contest, and have now decided to concoct any story to dissuade him from standing for the election.
In a statement in Abuja, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, debunked a newspaper publication that western countries, such as the United States, the European Union and Saudi Arabia, were persuading the President to drop his second term ambition, stressing that Buhari had weighed every options before declaring for second term.
Describing the publication as a mere fiction, he said, “It is necessary to respond to a tendentious story published Tuesday as cover choice of a national daily.
“Under the headline, ‘Pressure mounts on Buhari not to seek re-election,’ the fiction parading as news claims that foreign powers, including the European Union, United States of America, United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia, are putting pressure on President Buhari not to seek re-election, due to some concocted reasons.
“We thought fake news was the sole preserve of the social media in this season. Alas, a traditional medium has caught the bug. Obviously, the author of the story just got a brain wave, or got procured by anti-democratic elements, and then penned the mischief.
“If there are quarters in which President Buhari is held in very high esteem, and the work he is doing for Nigeria highly lauded, it is in the countries mentioned.
”Some of them are equally bastions of democracy, and will not interfere in the democratic affairs of a sovereign country. The newspaper should simply tell its story to the marines.
“President Buhari is not a flippant or frivolous individual. He gave deep thought to the prospect before announcing his bid for a second term in office.”
He said it was only those with skeletons in their cupboards that were afraid of President Buhari’s re-election bid.
“It is only those who fear that their goose would be cooked, if they meet with him at the polls, that are trying to dissuade him from running by all means, including sponsored newspaper stories.
“By saying it got feelers that President Buhari may opt out of the 2019 presidential election, the newspaper embarrassed itself, and all those who love good journalism. The newspaper can surely do better,” he said.
