President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his 800 metre walk home from Eid praying ground on Sallah day was not about testing his physical fitness but to show respect to thousands of people who wanted to greet him on the fateful day.
The President stated this when he received some socio-political groups from Daura Emirate Council, who paid him Sallah homage at his private residence in Daura, Katsina state, on Friday.
President Buhari said the trekking had nothing to do with his bid to seek re-election in 2019, adding that he had since made his intention known to Nigerians about his political ambition.
The President, who spoke in Hausa, said: “Let me react to some media reports about my trekking on Sallah day insinuating that I trekked to demonstrate my fitness for 2019 presidential election.
‘‘They were not seeing me, so I came down so they could see me.
“I didn’t need to convince anyone about my health and the decision to contest for a second term- a decision that I made public in April this year.
“After the prayer, I noticed that many people wanted to see and I was in a black vehicle and security men were blocking them from seeing me.
“So, I opted to trek in spite of the security implications because I knew nothing would happen to me by the grace of Allah,’’ he said.
The President used the opportunity of his meeting with his kinsmen to inform them that he has directed the Ministry of Agriculture and the CBN to review the processes on the issuance of loans to smallholder farmers.
He said: ‘‘We want to make it easier for them to access the loans, particularly the underprivileged people in the society.
“It has become necessary for the government to do this because banks will insist on collaterals which majority of farmers do not have.
“For our agriculture policy to succeed, we must be able to reach smallholders farmers with loans without collaterals. Collaterals are always a problem with smallholder farmers.’’
President Buhari also highlighted the achievements of the administration on local rice productions, which had expectedly led to the reduction of imports by over 90 per cent.
The President expressed delight that young people were returning to the farms and reaffirmed the Federal government’s commitment to implement policies to promote agriculture.
The spokesman of the group, Malam Yusuf Mai’adua, applauded the President on his numerous achievements.
‘‘You have made us proud, the economy is back on the path of growth and you have laid a solid foundation for the development of the country,’’ he said.
Mai’adua disclosed the plans of the groups to organise a massive rally for his 2019 campaign, “as soon as the ban on political campaign is lifted’’, and invited him to make out time to attend.
However, Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, on Wednesday, said the trekking by the president was a positive response to Tambuwal’s diatribe that President is “too old’’ to continue to rule the country beyond 2019.
“I think there are two things here; one is to say that the President is responsive to the enormous support and commitment of his own people that had come out in their numbers to see him and he just decided that he couldn’t go on riding in a black vehicle and he came out and walked to the distance.
“The second thing, he is curious that these days, one or two people who are aspiring to be president are campaigning on their youthfulness and good health.
“I think the president has done one thing today – that the issue is not how old one is but how fit he is ; how healthy he is. Now that the president has proven his fitness and well-being to continue in office is a settled matter
“I think that if people want to campaign against him they should do so on issues that are of significance to Nigerians. The President is fit, he is healthy; he is good to go for second term,’’ he said.
