"I won't walk to create an illusion," Ex-VP takes shot at Buhari over 800m trek

Presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, has taken a shot at President Muhammadu Buhari after the presidency made a big deal out of the president trekking 800 metres on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.

After Eid prayers on Tuesday, the president trekked 800 metres from the Eid-praying ground in Daura to his private residence, amid cheers from supporters that lined the street.

The president's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the trek proves that the president is healthy enough to seek re-election, contrary to what his opponents have been saying.

He said, "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."

In reaction to the Buhari's trek, Atiku took to his Twitter account on Wednesday, August 22, to disclose that he regularly jogs more than a mile but that it should not be the yardstick to determine a candidate's suitability to be president.

He posted, "I regularly jog more than a mile & exercise, but it will be pedestrian of me to ask Nigerians to vote for me because of that. I want my party - the PDP, and Nigerians, to vote for me because I WORK not because I WALK. I will work to create jobs. I won't walk to create an illusion."

Atiku, a former vice president, is one of the favourites to be Buhari's biggest challenger in the 2019 presidential election if he wins the ticket of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).