The National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Senator Ajibola Basiru, has affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s fitness to run for campaigns ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He noted that he spends more time with the President, sometimes late into the night, adding that Tinubu is “fit as a fiddle.”
Basiru, who is also the Deputy Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, stated this on Wednesday during his interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today’ programme.
His comments come when some members of the opposition have questioned the President’s physical fitness, bringing to question his ability to move around campaigning for a second term in office at the Aso Villa.
Basiru said, “Tinubu is more than fit to run campaigns and governance. He is fit as a fiddle; he is someone I stay with till 3 a.m., 4 a.m. and is very agile, articulate, and ready to go on.”
The APC scribe further berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition, as he compared the candidate of the African Democratic Congress to famous Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who contested for the East African country’s presidency multiple times without winning.
“Atiku is the ‘Odinga’ of our country, and that’s what the Vice President said… Atiku is doing his last contest, by which he will know that the Nigerian people will reject him,” Basiru stated.
Earlier Wednesday, the African Action Congress asked Tinubu to approve the use of the Presidential Villa in Abuja for the inauguration of its Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party also requested food, drinks and other logistical support for participants at the proposed event scheduled for November 11, 2026.
The AAC, whose presidential candidate is Human Rights activist Omoyele Sowore, made the requests in a letter signed by its National Secretary, Oshiokhai Ikpeminioghena.
Commenting on the request, Basiru arged Sowore to “get a seat” in the House of Assembly, before he could be taken “seriously” by Nigerians.
“Sowore is a senior; I know he’s my friend. All of us were in the trenches in student union. He’s a skit maker. He knew that would not happen.
“Let him struggle to even get a seat in the House of Assembly as a political party, then people will begin to take him seriously. Even rejected ballot paper had more votes than his party in the 2023 election.
“So that means that rejected ballot paper is more popular than his political party. So he’s just making skits.
“If I see him, I will tell him, ‘Sowore, you are just a comedian.’ You know, Awada, you know what they call comedy? He’s a comedian,” Basiru said.