Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari denied claims that he had died and was replaced by a Sudanese impostor.
He spoke for the first time regarding the rumor that had been going around on social media for months. Buhari is running for re-election in February 2019 elections in Nigeria. He spent five months in the UK being treated for an undisclosed illness.
Some of his political opponents and many social media users circulated the theory that he had been replaced by a lookalike from Sudan called Jubril. There is absolutely no etvidence to back the claims, however videos suggesting the “clone-replacement” scenario have thousands of views on Facebook and YouTube.
“It’s the real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong,” Buhari told Nigerians in a town hall session in Poland on December 2nd. He was there while attending a conference and he was asked about Jubril.
“A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health. Some even reached out to the Vice President to consider them to be his deputy because they assumed I was dead. That embarrassed him a lot and of course, he visited me when I was in London convalescing,’’ he said. Claiming that those who said he was replaced by a clone were “ignorant and irreligious.”
The Nigerian President will turn 76 on December 17th. The presidency circulated Buhari’s comments in an emailed statement entitled “It’s Real Me, President Buhari Responds to Cloning Allegation.”
In 2017, the President was reportedly being treated in London for three months, after which he completely vanished for two months. During his absence, his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, ran the country.
In April 2018, Buhari had a joint press conference with Donald Trump in Washington. He read his speech for a “piece of paper, hardly raising his eyes and appearing frail in stark contrast with Trump’s energetic bombast.”
“He gave short, artless responses to obviously planted questions from pro-government Nigerian journalists. According to the Financial Times, after their meeting Trump commented that he never wanted to meet someone as “lifeless” as Buhari again.”
In August 2018, while in Abuja with French President Emmanuel Macron, Buhari looked far better, smiling as he gave “unscripted” remarks.
Buhari’s victory in the upcoming elections is not assured. Many Nigerians are disillusioned by a lack of progress made by Buhari’s administration. Promises to fight corruption and restore security have not been fully met. Nigeria has serious struggles with the Boko Haram group. In July the Guardian revealed that “thousands of people who had fled Boko Haram were being sent back to the ruins of their houses in unsafe garrison towns,” in an attempt to persuade voters that the group had been defeated.
Considering a recent report released by Bloomberg, which claims that Putin’s “chef” Yevgeny Prigozhin is doing his “magic,” to ensure Russian influence in the region, it will not be a surpruse that some mainstream media will come at some moment with a speculations that the “mysterious” situation with Buhari is a part of GRU special operation.
The still image on the video only has Macron on it. For a second, I thought he might be the Sudanese impostor. That sneaky bastard.
LOL For some, 1 country is not enough.
There are simple DNA tests that will prove him right. Will drop one in the mail for him today.
What difference would it make if he had been replaced? Nothing improves either way.
Methinks reforming even a western democracy is hard under the best conditions, let alone a country like Nigeria. Where everybody complains about corruption, but where corruption is also deeply ingrained in the national culture. Everybody hates having to bribe the local civil servant, and yet the first thing they do when they need something is turn to whatever family member who either is a high placed civil servant, or who knows one.
Bureaucracies are incredibly hard to reform and very resistant to change.
Hello friend I am the real Nigerian President, your bank account has been specially selected to receive USD$1,000,000. The funds are ready for transfer and we simply need a clearance fee to cover taxes and duties. If you deposit USD$5,000 into our account we can process your payment within two business weeks.
I miss those email scams. Haven’t gotten one of those in a long time. I always liked how they tied in to whatever current event/African civil war of the week was going on.
.. and no one in Nigeria noticed?
Only in Nigeria… Although it does demonstrate that attitudes towards him have shifted wildly over the course of the conflict.
That’s the fun thing with rumors and fake news on social media. They pretty much live their own life and are next to impossible to get rid off. That’s how vaccinations are bad, Obama was not born in the US and Russia helped Trump steal the election are still alive and well.
Hard times. One of my grandfathers brothers died in the Chigago negro slum, which was the worst slum in America at that time. We dont know why he was there or why he died.
But he didnt complain about it :)