The All Progressives Congress
(APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu has continued his campaign for the
February 25, 2023 election, making recurring gaffes that have left many
doubting his mental fitness to lead Africa’s most populous nation.
Since he formally declared his
interest in the presidency on January 10, the former Lagos state governor has
spoken incoherently and erroneously several times in public while his aides
labour to quell the aftermath.
Here are ten gaffes the APC
presidential candidate made this year.
1: Expired PVCs
Addressing market women who
visited him in Abuja in January, Tinubu told his guests that the Permanent
Voter Card (PVC) they kept with them had expired. “In case they do not announce
to you on time, the PVC you have has expired.”
But the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) countered him and confirmed he misinformed
Nigerians.
Tinubu apologised through
a statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman.
“Immediately upon being apprised
of this, Tinubu apologised for the incorrect statement and felt sorry for any
confusion it may have caused.”
2: Recruitment of 50 million
soldiers
In March, Tinubu said at a
colloquium celebrating his 69th birthday in Kano state that the Federal
Government should recruit 50 million soldiers to boost the nation’s security
forces.
According to Tinubu, the recruits
“will
eat cassava, agbada, corn (agbado is corn in Yoruba language), in
the morning, yam in the afternoon…”
His aide, Tunde Rahman, again
admitted his principal had committed a blunder and
apologised.
“Asiwaju seeks the expansion of
security personnel by 50,000 for the armed forces, not the 50 million that was
mentioned in error. It was an accidental verbal mistake of which we all commit
from time to time, especially when reciting a series of large numerical
figures.
“He did not mean 50 million
youths, which is almost a quarter of our total population.”
3: Tweeting on Whatsapp
Tinubu said in April that social
media users could tweet on Whatsapp.
He said: “Do you know how many of
you are tweeting on WhatsApp right now?”. Whatsapp is a free instant messaging app, while Twitter is a microblogging
social networking service platform where users can tweet.
4: El Rufai turned a rotten
situation into a bad one
Also, on October 15, the
presidential hopeful claimed that Kaduna State Governor Nasir El
Rufai turned a rotten situation into a bad one.
“Some people need to understand
idioms,” Tinubu said, adding that “when I said he turned a rotten situation
into a bad one, it is an achievement.”
Tinubu made the remark at the
seventh Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest).
Despite the effort of his
campaign spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, to correct what many Nigerians saw as a
huge blunder, Tinubu insisted he was right when he appeared before the Arewa
Joint Committee at the Arewa House, Kaduna, two days later.
5: “God bless PD…APC”
Tinubu made his most notable faux pas in Jos, Plateau
State, on November 15 when officially flagging off his campaign.
He inadvertently blessed the
opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) before realising and correcting his
mistake. He said, “God bless PD…APC,” to the shock of many of his party
faithful.
6: Wrongly calling Plateau
State Governor Solomon Dalong
The APC presidential flagbearer
made another goof at the campaign rally in Jos, Plateau state, when he referred to
the Director-General of his campaign council, Solomon Lalong, as Solomon
Dalong. The latter was a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development. He
hails from the state.
7: “Bala Blu, Blu, Bulalaba”
On Thursday, November 17, at a
town hall meeting in Imo state, Tinubu struggled to mutter a word that appeared like
“hullabaloo”. He said, “Bala Blu, Blu, Bulaba.”
8: Niger Delta state instead
of Delta state
Similarly, on November 25, during
his campaign in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom, the APC
candidate said Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege
would be the next governor of “Niger Delta.” He meant “Delta State.” Nigeria’s
Niger Delta comprises six states: Delta, Edo, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and
Cross River.
9: APV instead of PVC
On Saturday, November 26, while
addressing his supporters in Lagos State, Tinubu urged his supporters to get their “APV” instead of PVC.
PVC is a short form of permanent
voter card.
There have been claims that
Tinubu is sick because of how he talks and his hands shake when addressing
people.
10. Prevent Church rat from
eating poisoned Holy Communion
Tinubu compared Nigeria’s
adherence to global climate change advice to a rat eating a poisoned holy
communion when responding to a question on how he would tackle climate change
if elected president.
He said climate change “is a
question of how do you prevent a church rat from eating a poisoned holy
communion?”
He made the remarks when fielding
questions from the Arewa Stakeholders in Kaduna on October 17.
This statement has raised quite a reaction. Depending on who
you ask or who is speaking, on the one hand, some consider it
a gaffe saying he made use of religious symbol in a negative light
without taking into cognisance Nigeria’s tense religious atmosphere, while on
the hand, some do
not consider it as one.
In October 2022, Tinubu had asked the business community in
Kano state if he looked sick, as many assume.
Meanwhile, Nigerians hope to have a healthy president in
2023 because the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, spent almost 200 days attending to health
issues abroad during his first tenure.
Tinubu vies for the presidency alongside Atiku Abubakar of
the PDP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New
Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), among others.
Culled: icirnigeria.org
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