Nigerians can elect sick man as leader like some U.S. presidents, says Tinubu loyalist Iyin Aboyeji

Less than two weeks to the 2023 presidential election, tech expert, Iyin Aboyeji, says he sees no wrong in the election of a sick candidate into the nation’s highest office, citing ill former U.S. presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, to support his claim.

“I have always found it quite amusing how much of Nigeria’s political discourse revolves around the physical fitness and health of the candidates,” Mr Aboyeji wrote in a social media post. 

“However I wonder sometimes how Nigerians would feel if they knew some of America’s greatest presidents served with debilitating health conditions,” Mr Aboyeji said before listing ex-presidents diagnosed with illness.

Mr Aboyeji, a staunch supporter of the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, claims that while serving as president, Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer’s disease; John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease, and Dwight Eisenhower had Crohn’s disease.

The tech expert believes the physical and mental health of any presidential candidate is of no consequence to the position he seeks.

Mr Aboyeji explained that his assertions should not be perceived as a “political commentary or an endorsement of any candidate”  and should only be seen as an “amusing observation of the things” Nigerians considered important.

Speculations have been rife over the mental and physical wellbeing of Bola Tinubu, who has made several gaffes in his public speeches.

On Wednesday, Mr Tinubu added to his long list of gaffes when he raised his hands during the recitation of the national anthem at his presidential rally in Rivers.