What Tinubu’s son told me about his father’s whereabouts – Festus Keyamo

There is yet no ‘news’ about the whereabouts of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, more than one week after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially flagged off start of political campaigns for the 2023 presidential election.

Not even the Spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Festus Keyamo, who appeared on ARISE Television The Morning Show for the umpteenth time on Thursday, could provide an answer to the straight forward question about Tinubu’s whereabouts.

Pressed by one of the programme’s anchors, Rufai Oseni, if he had spoken with Tinubu recently, Keyamo rambled: “Let me let the cat out of the bag, I spoke with Seyi. His son is with him and his son said, ‘Oh, Daddy is sleeping upstairs, he’s okay. And that is his son’.”

Shortly after Keyamo made his appearance on ARISE, a picture of Tinubu, dressed in a pair of dark-coloured suit, white shirt and orange-coloured tie, sitting behind an executive desk and reading a Nigerian newspaper, was posted on his official Twitter handle, @officialABAT, titled “Staying focused”.

RELIABLESOURCENG.COM reports that it was not clear exactly what the picture was aimed to achieve. If it was aimed at communicating recency and giving Nigerians the image of Tinubu as at Thursday, October 6, 2022, it failed woefully because the falsehood was easily detected.

The newspaper Tinubu is supposedly reading in the picture is an old edition of The Nation, published January 23, 2022. Therefore, the picture is a throwback image of the APC presidential candidate.

“Wahala no too much?” was all Rinu Oduala, writing with the Twitter handle @SavvyRinu, could respond to the Tinubu’s picture, while highlighting the date and other hidden details of the The Nation newspaper.

READ: 2023 Election: Tinubu absent as Obi, Atiku, others sign peace accord

“Focus on your health and leave Nigeria alone,” another tweep quipped.

“More throwback pictures than Tupac Shakur,” wrote another tweep.

Yet another wrote: “Tinubu and handlers! This is an old picture and This is 23rd January 2023 Newspaper!!! Where is Tinubu????”

One of the tweeps however begged to differ. “Did he tell you the pix was taken today. The pix just signified how focused he is,” the contributor wrote.

The quest for Tinubu’s whereabouts became a national issue when his absence was conspicuously visible at the Peace Agreement signing ceremony by all the presidential candidates of the various political parties, in Abuja, on September 29, a programme convened by the National Peace Committee, headed by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah.

The ‘Peace Accord’ aims at getting the political gladiators, especially presidential and governorship candidates, to commit themselves to peaceful conduct throughout the electioneering process.

Not even the Deputy Director of APC’s Presidential Campaign Council, Adams Oshiomhole, who appeared on one edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, about two weeks ago, could confirm the whereabouts of the APC standard bearer.

“I don’t report to him every day, I’m not sure if he’s around or not,” Oshiomhole responded, when asked about Tinubu’s whereabouts.

Also, APC’s Women Leader in Lagos State, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, who had recently led a group of women on a solidarity walk for Tinubu, could not account for where the APC presidential candidate is, order than saying he travelled and would be back “within the next 48 hours”, while speaking on ARISE television The Morning Show on Wednesday.

Because of his absence from Nigeria, the official inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and flag-off of the party’s campaign for the 2023 election have been postponed indefinitely.