Atiku Mocks Presidency: Unlike Buhari Who Trekked 800mtrs, I Run Miles Everyday

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has taken a swipe at the Presidency for asking Nigerians to vote President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 because he walked for 800 metres on Sallah day and hence was fit for re-election.

President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had been quoted on Tuesday as saying that his principal walked 800 metres from the Eid-praying ground to his private residence in Daura, Katsina state, where he had gone to observe the Eid el-Kabir celebration.

Shehu had also said “he [Buhari] is curious that these days, one or two people who are aspiring to be president are campaigning on their youthfulness and good health,” being part of the Presidency’s response to a statement credited to Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who had asked the president to shelve his second term ambition because he was “too old” and weak.

But reacting to the Presidency’s response which had since drawn a lot of comments, Atiku said in a tweet on Wednesday: “I regularly jog more than a mile and exercise, but it will be pedestrian of me to ask Nigerians to vote for me because of that. I want my party – the PDP, and Nigerians, to vote for me because I WORK not because I WALK. I will work to create jobs. I won’t walk to create an illusion.”

The former Vice President and 2019 presidential aspirant shared a photo of himself on a thread mill to prove that he was fit to run and lead the country if voted in the next general elections.