President Muhammed Buhari Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has finally addressed the claims that his principal died during a medical vacation in London in 2017 and was replaced with Jubril from Sudan.
The rumour of Buhari being dead and cloned has lingered for years in the country, with many people believing that the man in Aso Villa is not Muhammadu Buhari but Jubril from Sudan.
Adesina reacted to the claims while celebrating the President on his 78th birthday on Friday, when he told some stories to make Nigerians believe that the claims were false.
“This is Jubril from Sudan and not Muhammadu Buhari, who had died during the medical vacation in 2017, some people say. You have a clone in Aso Villa, not Buhari. Idiocy, sadly believed by even some intellectuals,” Adesina began.
“Let me tell you a story. On the day the President finally returned to the country in August 2017, after months of absence, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin, was giving out his daughter in marriage.
“I had attended the church service, decked unusually in complete Agbada, with a cap to match.
From the wedding, I went straight to the airport to join the reception party.
“We formed a welcome line, as we usually do.
And as the President shook each person, he had one wisecrack or the other to say.
When he got to me, he took my hand and said: ‘Adesina, this is the best I’ve seen you dressed.’
“We both laughed heartily, and the television cameras captured it.
I remember that many people asked me later what had tickled me and the President, that we laughed so uproariously.
“Jubril from Sudan? Would he know my name as Adesina? Would he know I rarely wear Agbada? How ridiculous can some people be?”
