Mohammed Yakubu, a member of the national
executive committee of Arewa Consultative Forum
(ACF), says the north will vote President Muhammadu
Buhari in 2019 even if he is on a wheel chair.

In an interview The Sun, Yakubu said it was improper
for people to mount pressure on Buhari to resign
because he is battling with his health.

“I will not advise him to resign. You will recall that
when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was asking
the then ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to
resign, I granted an interview to your newspaper, as
the youth leader of Northern Union, telling Nigerians
that even on a wheelchair, we will support Yar’Adua to
rule the country. Unfortunately, he died,” he said.

“I am also making the same statement today that
Buhari should not resign, even if he is on a wheelchair,
north and people of Nigeria will vote him in 2019. I am
not just associating myself with Buhari, I am
advocating for good governance under President
Buhari.

“I don’t think that it is proper for anybody to humiliate
Buhari out of office by mounting pressure on him to
resign. It is not fair; it is not just, it is not proper.

“We have election timetable if you don’t like him, vote
him out during the election, but I will not support
anybody that will want to humiliate the president out
of office. As long as he is alive, it is not right to
demand of him to resign.”

Yakubu thanked Nigerians for rendering prayers on
behalf of Buhari.

He said the kind of support Buhari has received during
his illness is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
“I must first of all thank Nigerians for their support and
prayer for President Muhammadu Buhari, their support
and prayer have been unprecedented in the history of
Nigeria,” he said.

“There is no Nigerian leader that has received this type
of support and prayer in our recent history. I must first
of all thank them. The president’s health challenge is
something that can happen to anybody. We had
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, this type of health
condition happened to him. So in the case of Buhari,
he had transmitted power to his deputy, as
constitution demanded, and I think there is nothing to
fear.

“If he had not transmitted power to his deputy or his
case was like that of Yar’Adua, I would have been
more worried. And so far the acting president is
capable; he has shown some level of vibrancy, there is
no cause for alarm.

“God forbid bad thing, supposing the president dies
today, there is nothing anybody can do. God has
appointed a time for every human being to be born and
to die. For now, we will continue to pray for our
president and wish him quick return to the country.

And I will continue to appreciate Nigerians who are
praying and supporting the president.”

TheCable