President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday broke his silence on the rumours making the rounds that he has been cloned saying “it’s real me”.
There have been allegations that one “Jibril from Sudan” is the one ruling Nigeria now, instead of Buhari who is said to have died.
Buhari cleared air on the issue at the Conference of the Parties (COP24) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Krakow, Poland
“It’s real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong,” Buhari, said at an interactive session with the Nigerian Community in the country.
Responding to a question from a Nigerian in the Diaspora who wanted to know if he was real or the much talked about “Jibril from Sudan”, Buhari described the authors of the rumour about him as “ignorant and irreligious.”
“A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health. Some even reached out to the Vice President [Yemi Osinbajo] 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… It’s real me; I assure you,” he was quoted in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
The President said he was looking forward to celebrating his 76th birthday on December 17 and jocularly added: “If I am getting harassed by anyone, it is my grandchildren, who are getting too many.”
He used the occasion to reiterate that his government will continue to maintain focus and deliver on the three focal points of his campaign in 2015: security, economy and the fight against corruption.
