The All Progressives Congress (APC) Saturday dismissed reports that President Muhammadu Buhari may have tested positive for COVID-19 and flown abroad for treatment.
The party in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the president was hale and hearty and had been leading the charge against the deadly virus.
The party also advised Nigerians to ignore the conspiracy theories that trailed Saturday’s early morning explosion in Ondo State.
The APC added that while few Nigerians want a “talking President,” a majority of those who gave him his current mandate want a “working President.”
The statement read: “The wailers who have severally professed their death wish for President Buhari since 2015 have, again, found their voices amid the coronavirus outbreak. From conjuring and spreading fake news on the President’s coronavirus test result, to spurious allegation of the hijacking of a teaching hospital ventilator to the Villa and to the purported smuggling of the President to the United Kingdom, they are up to their ignominious pastime and tired antics.
“A few Nigerians want a President whose preoccupation is talking; while the majority voted for a President who is deploying his energy to working. We all can see the effect of the grand efforts being led by President Muhammadu Buhari to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic in Nigeria.
“Like a legendary troop commander that the President is, he is steadily and vigorously leading the charge against the coronavirus pandemic. With our President mobilising human and material resources, we, as a country, are doing commendably so far as statistics are showing in comparison to even most advanced nations.
“Under the keen supervision of the President, there is a visible and proactive network of national response structures working in tandem with all states.
“The efficiency of the field workers and other state actors has ensured we are able to minimize the spread so far with many states taking proactive steps to forestall widespread of the very infectious virus.
“We are glad to see many Nigerians rallying behind the President with their own contributions. Notably, the news of the ministers’ voluntary donation of 50 percent of their March salary is unprecedented.
“We commend the foresight of the Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, in coordinating this patriotic action.
“Beyond the monetary donation, the gesture by the ministers would bolster the confidence of ordinary Nigerians to call up the resilience for which we are known for. It would also encourage many more organisations and other well-to-do Nigerians to lend support to the Presidential committee.
“We will not be distracted or deterred because their unpatriotic actions serve as a reminder to the failed and rejected past. Right now, the task before us is for all Nigerians to focus and collectively beat the coronavirus. To achieve this, the President is tirelessly leading the charge through action.”
