The All Progressives Congress presidential campaign flag off in Kaduna State has triggered a dispute between the ruling party and opposition figures over President Bola Tinubu’s health and the attendance at the event.
The 2027 reelection campaign was officially launched at Ranchers Bees Stadium in Kaduna on Saturday. However, photographs and video clips from the rally prompted criticism on social media, with opposition figures questioning the President’s physical condition and the level of public support for his campaign.
Opposition voices called on Tinubu to reconsider his reelection bid, citing a viral video involving the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, and alleging that the rally attracted a low turnout. The APC rejected the criticism, insisting that the President was healthy and capable of leading the country.
Tinubu needs medical care, not campaign, says Atiku’s aide
Paul Ibe, media aide to African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, urged Tinubu to suspend his campaign and seek medical attention.
Ibe argued that the President was medically unfit to lead the country and called on his family to prioritise his well being.
Speaking on Sunday, Ibe said, “Tinubu is sick and needs medical care. His family should take an honourable decision in the interest of their husband and father and pull him out to give him medical attention.
“Medical care is what Tinubu needs now, not the campaign. If you watch the viral video, you will see him shaking. That’s not a man who is well.
“If you noticed, they were deliberate about how they manipulated their cameras. No camera zoomed in on him. Most of the time he was talking, the camera did not show him.”
His comments followed the circulation of a video in which the First Lady appeared to place a substance suspected to be medication into the President’s mouth while he was seated. The footage generated speculation online about Tinubu’s health, although the video alone does not establish that he has a medical condition.
Sowore calls for transparency over President’s health
Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, also questioned Tinubu’s health and called for a different approach to leadership.
The activist acknowledged that anyone could fall ill but argued that the country needed leaders whose health conditions could be reliably established.
Sowore said, “Here is Remi Tinubu popping what appear to be pills into Tinubu’s mouth during the Kaduna rally.
“This man is sick, I insist. Nigeria must stop using its Presidency to treat sick people,” he said.
The APC dismissed the allegations, maintaining that Tinubu remained capable of performing his presidential duties.
Okechukwu rejects opposition criticism
Osita Okechukwu, a founding member of the APC and former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, criticised opposition figures for making claims about the President’s health.
Okechukwu said African cultural values discouraged people from speculating about another person’s health without medical evidence. He maintained that Tinubu was well and campaigning for a second term.
He said, “There is a saying in my village that harmattan is approaching and everybody pointed at a dried tree and said that it was going to fall.
“The harmattan eventually came and passed, but it was the fresh tree that fell, not the dried one.
“It is not the culture of Africans to talk about somebody’s health in that manner, except you are a medical expert and Mr President is your patient.
“I find it disturbing that people are talking about somebody’s health like that. If the President says he is fine and he is asking Nigerians to vote for him for a second tenure, I think we should listen to him.
“If we have anything to talk about, it should be about an issue-based campaign, not about his health. It is only the Almighty God that is in charge of all our health.
“I have seen people who go to bed healthy but couldn’t wake up. I dislike that kind of talk from the opposition. I don’t know if there is any culture that supports people speculating about another person’s health.”
Opposition questions attendance at Kaduna rally
The rally also drew criticism over the number of supporters who attended the event.
Political commentator Isaac Fayose alleged that the APC failed to fill Ranchers Bees Stadium despite claims that supporters had travelled from different parts of the country, including Delta State.
Fayose said, “If you see the APC campaign in Kaduna today, you will know that the party is gone. Everybody hates them now. The governor used a stadium that has only 5,000 capacity, and even with that, they were not able to fill it.
“They have finished the country, and the people are rejecting them everywhere,” he said.
Ibe similarly alleged that the campaign organisers attempted to conceal the level of attendance by limiting camera angles during the event.
He said, “The reason the camera did not show Tinubu is because of the crowd. They were trying to manage the situation. They didn’t want to advertise the empty stadium.
“They were using pictures from Buhari’s campaign in the past for their propaganda, but people have debunked it,” he said.
Okechukwu, however, disputed the allegations, describing the rally as successful and insisting that the stadium was filled with supporters.
He said the Ahmadu Bello Stadium was undergoing repairs, making Ranchers Bees Stadium the available venue for the event.
“The rally turnout was very great. The stadium was filled up. Governor Sani, whom I know, would have preferred the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, but it is under repair and there is no way they could complete it before the rally. That was why they used the Ranchers Bees Stadium.
“I did not see anything like poor attendance. One of the media people showed people outside the stadium who could not get into the main venue,” he said.
Okechukwu also urged Northerners not to support Atiku solely on the basis of regional identity, arguing that the former vice president had breached an unwritten power sharing understanding between the North and South.
“My northern brothers should understand that those marketing Atiku Abubakar as if he is a northern candidate are not friends of the North.
“Nobody should preach the gospel of ‘this is our son’. The son is breaching the understanding reached at the beginning of the Fourth Republic,” he added.
