President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration that he thought he was 74 years until told 75 has pitched him against the nation’s largest opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The party described the declaration as a “national disgrace”.
President Buhari had made the declaration while receiving a contingent of Abuja residents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Christmas Day.
But in a statement by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Diran Odeyemi in Oshogbo on Tuesday, the party wondered the number of inconsistencies there were in the president’s particulars with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The party equally accused the president of embarrassing the nation before the international community.
The party’s statement read in part, “How many other inconsistencies are in Mr. President’s biodata submitted to INEC? We are sure there are more. And the world is waiting on the body to give details about our President.
“We advise INEC to revisit those forms President Buhari filled in all elections he had participated in, especially those he filled before 2015 elections to unearth other inconsistencies therein. In a normal clime, the electoral umpire would have set in motion verification modalities to avoid further national embarrassment and expose Mr President.
“Come to think of it, a leader that does not know his real age, could not be said, to have sound knowledge of the people and country he governs, let alone knowing the peculiarities of the governed. This is simply not the kind of president Nigeria needs at the moment.”
It added, “Not too long ago, Nigeria became laughing stock with the inappropriate designation of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel as President of West Germany by President Buhari.
“We recall President Buhari once admitted that his age would slow down his performance in office. For a country that could fall into an emergency situation anytime, like the present government-failing induced fuel scarcity, we don’t need a president that forgets things easily.
“We advise Mr. President to consider turning in his resignation letter to avoid further slowing down the country because of his age, and to also save our corporate image as a country that had a Presidential with “occasional memory failure.”