Tinubu: I’m hale, hearty

•Tinubu ... yesterday

National leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu returned home last night, saying he is hale and hearty.
Tinubu, who arrived aboard a chartered private jet at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, about 9 pm., described rumours of his ill health as part of the grand political design to run him down.
Dressed in a grey long sleeve French suit, the former Lagos State governor was received by scores of his supporters on arrival.
They danced and sang his praise as they milled round him to shake his hand.
Tinubu said rumours of his ill health were “wicked”, describing the rumour-mongers as “enemies of progress”.
Their evil thoughts towards him did not only provoke prayers but also exposed how cheap people could resort to in a bid to run down a political figure, he said, adding: “I’m glad to be back; nothing wrong with my health”.
Tinubu urged the government to seek genuine consultation with Boko Haram leaders, to find out why they are aggrieved.
The activities of Boko Haram, he said, have continued to threaten society, urging the government not to seek foreign help to resolve the matter. 
Tinubu said if he were ill, as insinuated by a section of the media, he will not hesitate to let the public know as he did in the heat of the campaign for his re-election in 2003, when he had back pain. “After all, it is only human for anybody to be ill,” he said.
Tinubu said it was ungodly for anybody to celebrate falsehood about his health to score cheap political points.
On the appointment of the ACN presidential candidate, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, as chairman of the Petroleum Resources Task Force, Tinubu said the panel is a ploy to cover up all the political donations the ruling party received from oil and gas companies.
He said it would have been proper for Jonathan to write the ACN, to request the release of any of its members to serve in the government, which the ACN would have considered.
Tinubu said drafting Ribadu into such a panel, when the House of Representatives “is still working on the issue, is merely diversionary”.