While speaking in an exclusive interview with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not yet have a presidential candidate for the 2019 election.
The presidential spokesman who also said Buhari was not giving any definite sign that he will not seek reelection come 2019, added that the APC could not give automatic ticket to any candidate as that would be undemocratic.
When he was asked if Buhari was healthy enough to go through the rigours of campaign in the event that he chooses to contest, Adesina said the president's health is a miracle and phenomenal.
Adesina said; "As the local saying goes, you don't shave a man's head in his absence and nobody can decide for the president. He is the one who can decide for himself.
"People can voice their opinion which they have done, people can indicate their desire but the ultimate decision will be that of the president. So far, we don't have a candidate for 2019.
"In democracy, you don't really talk of automatic ticket. In a true democracy, contest for any position should be open but there is no indication now that the president is going to throw his heart into the ring.
"The president's health is a miracle. You marvel and give glory to God when you see him, because the comeback is phenomenal. I believe that is one of the greatest comebacks in history."
When asked if the corruption cases levelled against the administration has eroded the integrity of Buhari and could affect the party's victory in 2019, Adesina said his principal's integrity is not in question, describing him as " a man who reeks integrity."
Adesina also urged Nigerians to have confidence in the ability of the APC to deliver the change it promised. "If integrity is ever genuine, then you cant call it a smoked screen. With President Muhammadu Buhari, there was never a smoke screen.
"If I can quote scripture, there is that part that says cast away not your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. When you maintain your confidence in something good, eventually you get rewarded.
"So, I will just tell Nigerians that the confidence you had in this government of change, the confidence you had in APC that made you vote for change in 2015, keep that confidence because there is a lot that the party and this government can still do for this country. It is work in process and this work should continue.
"The man on the street has to make up his mind. It is a voluntary thing but he has to decide whether he wants to go back to bondage as signified by a government that held us in bondage for over 16 years and threatened to keep us there for 60 years.
"He has to decide whether he wants to go back into servitude and bondage or he wants to stay in liberty where he can see the promise land ahead.
"I don't like to talk about the PDP. If you observe, I rarely do because I pity them. They had prepared themselves for the long run, ruling Nigeria for 60 years and after 60 years, they got torpedoed and they are still reeling from that shock."
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