Akinwande Soji-Ojo
President Muhammadu Buhari has broken his silence on claims by some Nigerians that the man currently occupying the presidential seat is a clowned version of him.
Buhari, who spoke in a documentary played at a private dinner organised by his family and close associates to mark his 80th birthday on Friday night at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, described the claims by some Nigerians that presumed him to be long dead and replaced by a body double named “Jibril of Sudan” as “not a funny joke.”
The president said the dark rumour was the handiwork of some mischief makers who thrived on what they did not understand.
Responding to a question in the documentary, Buhari said: “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
Asked if he found such allusions to be funny, he said: “No. It is not funny because those who made those statement, they just want to be cheeky. They want to distract attention from the main issue. Our main issue is to do the infrastructure, make people aware that they need to work hard to live well. They just want to enjoy life without earning the respect of their community and so on.”
The president also said he won’t miss presidential villa (Aso Rock) too much.
“I wonder if I am going to miss much. I think I’m being harassed. I believe I’m trying my best but still my best is not good enough. Because there are people around that think that they can intimidate me to get what they want instead of going through certain systems to earn whatever they want to earn. And there are some people who want to be clever,” he said.
