Tinubu’s Gaffes Are Signs He’s Unfit, Says PDP Campaign

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council, has described  the continuous gaffes of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as indicative of another pattern of unfitness for the office of the president.

It said from his unsteady gaits to his incoherence and the unintended but welcome prayer for the PDP, all was a theatrical exhibition of a misplaced ambition.

In a statement by Senator Dino Melaye, one of the spokespersons of the PDP Presidential Campaign, said, “The manifestation in Jos is a further consolidation of a pattern in the physical and psychological composition of Tinubu, who a few weeks ago, shocked his host, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, when he said Nigeria would go from rotten to bad. Analysts, who put both events in context have leaned on the Biblical aphorism that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Dino said the period of campaign was not just for activities that political parties could design to fill the void before election, but part of the building blocks for leadership selection.

According to him, “It is a period of assessments for choices and decisions by the electorate. It is, therefore, important that Nigerians take full advantage to mark the scripts of various candidates and their parties. A man like Tinubu, who could not have the presence of mind or who required support to move around has obviously marked himself down.

“Nigerians would recall the various inadequacies demonstrated by Buhari before he was elected in 2015. His qualification was a subject of litigation. His speeches were filled with gaffes including his inability to get right the name of his running mate.

“Every support was governed by emotion. Some of us fell for the wave of the period, but with the benefit of hindsight, we now know better. The election of a president for a great and demanding nation like Nigeria is beyond the application of the Peter Principle, where people are promoted to the level of their incompetence.

“In disaster management, there are some principles. The first is early warning signs. The disaster that the unlikely presidency that the Tinubu ambition represents is laden with early warning signs, buttressed by his conduct and carriage.

“Nigeria cannot afford to walk into disaster. The second principle in disaster management is disaster risk reduction. Again, Nigeria has a great chance now to avoid a repeat of the Buhari Presidency, who was largely an absentee president in and outside the county.

“The controversies surrounding the Tinubu persona are legion. His age is shrouded in mystery. His origin is in question. His academic credentials are in debate. The records of his career are in dispute. The source of his wealth are in contention. The burden of crime hangs around his neck.

“If in the face of all these he has been getting away and some Nigerians want to contextualise all within human fraility, what about the personal failures he now markets around the country?” he explained.