The Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday says contrary to speculations, its presidential flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is hale and hearty.

The camp of the former Lagos State governor described the national leader of the APC as a Trojan horse, who works assiduously for 20 hours each day.

The clarification is coming against the backdrop of the allegation by Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that Tinubu is not fit to rule the country.

The former governor of Anambra State also subtly knocked the APC presidential candidate at Monday’s retreat organised by LP in Abuja when he charged Nigerians to elect a leader they trust against one who sees the presidency as his turn to rule.

He said, “Next year’s elections will not be based on ethnicity. It will not be by turn, it is nobody’s turn. It must not be by connection. The election next year must be based on character and trust; it must be based on competence.”

Reacting in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, Director of Media and Publicity for APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, described Obi as an ‘incurable liar.’

This comes as all former aspirants of the All Progressives Congress under the aegis of APC360, have called on the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to urgently set in motion measures to halt the gale of defection that has hit the party in recent weeks, saying “it is dangerous.”

Meanwhile, two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe and Ebikitin Diongoli have led their supporters back to the ruling People’s Democratic Party in the state.

Also, the South-South Zonal Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Blessing Agbomhere, has warned supporters and leaders of the ruling party to desist from hobnobbing with Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, ahead of the 2023 elections.

Agbomhere gave the warning in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.

Lambasting Obi, a livid Onanuga urged Nigerians to ask if the Labour Party presidential candidate has bagged a medical certificate for him to declare Tinubu as unwell for the presidency.

The statement partly read, “We want to make it crystal clear to all the traducers of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate that Asiwaju Tinubu is not ill. He is hale and hearty. A man, who works for 20 hours a day, meeting people and strategizing about finding solutions to Nigeria’s problems, cannot be said to be ill. We make bold to say that our candidate is as fit as the fiddle.

“We find these statements unbecoming of a man who nurses the ambition to be Nigeria’s next President. Since he is not Asiwaju’s doctor and is not privy to his medical record, Obi has again disgracefully elevated what has for long been a beer parlour gossip and social media lie being propagated by his IPOB supporters. Obi in his characteristic manner is amplifying falsehood, which should not have a place in a decent political campaign.

“We believe that political leaders should be guided in their utterances and be sticklers for the truth, but Obi has thrown all caution to the wind, pronouncing on issues he has no moral and professional competence to make a judgment call on.”

National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rufai Ahmed Alkali, has said his party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, would not surrender his presidential aspiration to the standard bearer of the two predominant parties.

Alkali made the clarification in a statement issued in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Alkali wondered why chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have since dismissed the NNPP as insignificant are now threatened by its rising profile.

He said it was an effort in futility for any political party to be sponsoring any news item of the NNPP Presidential candidate stepping down for its candidate.

“Who is afraid of the NNPP Presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso.”

“The whole issue is that over the past three months people are just insisting that he was going to hand off his ambition to APC or PDP, or they would say he has an issue in Kogi where there was known, or they would go and close our office in Borno State for no reason, or they would go to Kano to take Senator Shekarau thinking that they have depleted the party. In fact, they are making him better and bigger. All these they are doing, the question is who is afraid of Kwankwaso.

“Only recently they said NNPP is nothing but now they are running helter-skelter to see how to stop NNPP and to stop Kwankwaso. Having tried every way to find something against our Presidential candidate and they couldn’t they have resort to wooing and reckless propaganda.”

Prof. Alkali said that the party was waiting for the campaign to start so it can officially bring out its manifesto to the doorsteps of Nigerians.

“We are not giving in to inanities, we are waiting for the campaign to start so we can roll out our campaign promises and manifesto.”

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that Nigeria is broke under the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku said Nigeria had been running on budget deficits since the APC came to power in 2015.

Atiku said these at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Tuesday as he was rolling out his economic agenda for the country if he eventually won the 2023 elections.

He said, “Nigeria is broke. Nigeria under the APC-led government has consistently run on budget deficits since it came to power in 2015. These budget deficits are often above the 3% threshold permissible under the Fiscal Responsibility Law.”

“For the first time in Nigeria’s history, the FGN paid more in debt service than it earned! By spending more than 100% of its revenue for debt service, Nigeria is breaching one of the applicable debt-sustainability thresholds.

”The failure of leadership by the APC-led government is staring every Nigerian in the face as the country’s economic, social, political and security challenges persist and assume frightening dimensions.

Atiku said Nigeria had the potential to double its Gross Domestic Product by 2030 and achieve a per capita income of approximately US$5,000, adding that “Our economic growth and development agenda seeks primarily to stimulate the growth of the economy. It envisions an economy that is modern, dynamic, and competitive, capable of taking its rightful place among the top 20 economies of the world.”

“We anticipate growth from our policies that seek to revitalize the real sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and MSMEs.

“Re-building infrastructure and reducing infrastructure deficit will enhance the carrying capacity of the economy and unleash growth and wealth creation.

“We will elevate production for export to a top policy priority and long-term investment priority and promote export of manufactured goods. ”

Atiku said he would deliver on these goals by, “First, a warm handshake with the private sector. We will support the private sector to drive growth. We will establish strong partnership in investing in infrastructure, creating jobs, income and in the fight against poverty.

“We will listen to the private sector more. Understanding the private sector and securing their buy-in when policies are designed will determine the success of our economic growth and development agenda.”

“Through regular dialogue with the private sector, we will build consensus, improve trust between us and make new reform initiatives easier to implement and sustainable. There will be more clarity, coherence, and consistency (the 3Cs) in policy. Nothing could be more threatening to investment flows than an environment that is full of policy flip-flops,” he said among other things, noting that he would reduce poverty.