Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to reach him on telephone to prove that he is hale and hearty.

The presidency has released a list of the persons Buhari had telephone conversation with since he left the country for the UK on January 19.

Among them are foreign leaders like President Donald Trump of US; King Mohammed VI of Morocco; and Alpha Conde, Guinean president and chairman of the African Union (UN).

In Nigeria, Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman; Lai Mohammed, minister of information; and Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, are among those who have spoken with Buhari on telephone.

The decision to make the conversations public is seen as a move to dispel the rumours that Buhari is critically ill.

But in a statement issued on his behalf by Idowu Adelusi, his chief press secretary, Fayose taunted the presidency, saying he could help in convincing Nigerians that Buhari is well.

“If their problem is that they are looking for a credible person who can help them convince Nigerians that all is well with our president, I’m their best bet,” he said.

“Let the president speak with me. If I tell Nigerians that the president spoke with me, Nigerians will believe.

“Since they are eager for the president to speak to people; believing in this way to convince Nigerians that their president is hale and hearty, let president Buhari talk to me. I can be reached on 08035024994. I am credible and Nigerians will believe me.

“They said he spoke to President Donald Trump; despite the hype, Nigerians were skeptical. Then they said he spoke to the king of Morocco; again, Nigerians were suspicious. Before we recovered from that, it is now the AU president that they said President Buhari spoke to.

“A president that can speak with outsiders should be able to whisper or wave to his own people. The people gave him the very important platform of President on which he stands today and, therefore, Presidential aides should stop giving the unhelpful impression that Buhari has no respect for the Nigerian electorate.”

Thecableng