President Muhammadu Buhari has described the claim that he was dead and replaced by one Jibril from Sudan as a joke that was not funny.
Buhari said this in a documentary shown Friday night at a dinner organised by his family and very close associates, to celebrate his 80th birthday, tagged: “Celebrating A Patriot, A Leader, An Elder Statesman”, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, the rumour was the work of mischief makers.
Asked by the interviewer if he heard about the crazy rumour a while back that he was not Buhari, he replied “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
Asked how he finds such things funny, the President said: “No. It’s not funny; because those who made those statements, they just want to be cheeky. They want to distract attention from the main issue.
Buhari also said he will not miss Aso Rock much because he was being harassed and that his efforts to make the country better was not good enough and appreciated by some people.
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, who also graced the occasion, thanked President Buhari for sacrificing a lot for the progress of Nigeria.
He likened him to leaders like “Charles De Gaulle of France, Franklin Roosevelt of America, Winston Churchill of Great Britain and Buhari of Nigeria.”
The APC flagbearer who was in attendance with his running mate, Kashim Shettima, prayed that “God will continue to spare you to see the history as you want it for the country; the ship of this nation will be on the right course. You will live long to enjoy a nice evening of democracy that you brought about.
There were good will messages from traditional rulers, who all eulogized President Buhari as a man of integrity and a huge sense of humour.
The highlight of the event was when the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, led other members of the President’s cabinet to present a giant birthday card and cut the birthday cake as they rejoiced with him on his 80th birthday.
