There is a growing call for would-be political aspirants who desire to hold public offices in Nigeria to submit themselves for cognitive and physical tests, and this is as the 2027 election season continues to draw nearer in the country.
During the last general elections in 2023, there was much talk about the physical and cognitive ability of the candidates who wanted to steer the affairs of the country, and it snowballed into mud-slinging among their respective supporters.
And not only the supporters, some of the candidates themselves had also discredited one another by engaging in character assassination to score cheap political points.
And because there is no clear-cut law in the Electoral Act that makes it mandatory for candidates to take such tests, the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, was forced to look on helplessly as all the shenanigans unfolded.
And so the physical and cognitive state of the then All Progressives Congress candidate and current President, Bola Tinubu, 72, and his People’s Democratic Party counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, 77, dominated political discourse and there was no end of the political gladiators being the butt of people’s jokes.
The President’s supporters will not forget in a hurry the controversy over the doctored speech in which Tinubu appeared to utter gibberish. The President was depicted to have said, “ba la blu, bu la ba,” and the puzzlement expressed by Nigerians after that incident nearly derailed the former Lagos State Governor’s presidency ambition.
Many of the President’s men, however, stepped forward and offered explanations for the video. But even though they said it was fake and thus fabricated to throw a bad light on their principal so that his capacity and competency for the plum job would be questioned, many Nigerians still found it difficult to believe that the president was a viable candidate.
Then also, during the campaign, there was also a picture that made the rounds on social media, which purportedly showed Tinubu to have peed on himself after a “mark” on the cloth he wore gave the impression that he did so.
The incident happened during an official function Tinubu undertook at the palace of the Awujale of Ijebuland in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, and those who jeered him ensured that they took no prisoners as their voice filled the political space.
Unsurprisingly, members of the Obidient movement, the supporters of Peter Obi – the candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s election, were the ones at the vanguard of those who called on Tinubu to step away from the presidential race.
They latched onto Tinubu’s supposed egregious picture and used it to sound their clarion call for the President’s rejection at the poll. They unashamedly asked the President to go and take care of his health.
Tinubu was also curiously alleged to have “urinary tract incontinence”, and if not for his doggedness and never-say-die attitude to fulfill his lifelong ambition of becoming a President, he would have fallen by the wayside.
“So, it may be true that the President hasn’t done any cognitive test yet, but his performance in office, the decisions he took and how he comports himself in public allay my fears”
Nowadays, political analysts insist that it is imperative that both cognitive and physical tests take centre stage before politicians can vie for elective offices, and the reason being that Nigerians want to assess, first-hand, the level of preparedness of those they would entrust leadership positions to.
But as noble as this sound, many politicians, including National Assembly members, are not clamouring for the inclusion of these tests in the Electoral Act.
In fact, many more politicians don’t even fully understand what a physical test or examination is.
For a former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, a physical test simply means running round a stadium to show that one is full of vigour and to check if he or she is fit to “carry the problems of the country.”
The former Minister of Transportation ran round the Port Harcourt stadium during his official declaration as an aspirant for the 2023 presidential election, and although he was mocking Tinubu, the then leading aspirant, Amaechi ended up shooting himself in the foot.
According to a health platform, Medical News Today, a physical test should involve a healthcare professional and is a routine test wherein the healthcare professional inspects, feels, or listens to different parts of a person’s body.
According to the platform, the test will check for possible diseases or medical conditions; check for medical issues that may become a problem later on and also keep track of any changes in a person’s physical health.
Some concerned stakeholders have averred that if a physical test was conducted, perhaps the unfortunate deaths recorded in the House of Representatives would have been averted.
For the record, since the House was inaugurated in June 2023, three promising lawmakers, namely Olajide Akinremi, Isa Dogonyaro and Abdulkadir Danbuga have kicked the bucket, and interestingly, they are all listed to have died “after a brief illness.”
As for cognitive tests, those, too, are vital for elected officials who carry out various projects and, while at it, depend on their cognitive ability to make far-reaching decisions.
A cognitive test checks for how well the brain is functioning and identifies a problem with cognition, which involves intellectual activities, including thinking, reasoning, making decisions, applying judgement, etc.
Critics of former President Muhammadu Buhari have noted that in marked contrast to his zero tolerance for corruption as a military Head of State, he did not effectively tackle corruption in his cabinet as a democratically elected President, and they (critics) blame Buhari’s “declining cognitive ability.”
A political analyst, Maxwell Igwe, told The Point that the two tests should be backed by law and required from politicians.
Igwe also noted that an American presidential candidate, Donald Trump, bantered with his opponent, President Joe Biden, during their debate, and it had to do with the tests.
Igwe then said that Tinubu’s actions and behaviour in office have proven that the President’s cognitive and physical ability are not in doubt.
“The two tests you mentioned are important. They should be required by law from our politicians, whether they want to contest in a councillorship, governorship or even presidential race. It must be compulsory.
“I watched the American presidential election debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Though they are both advanced in age, they were still willing to take cognitive and physical tests.
“Trump said he had already taken a cognitive test and challenged Biden to do the same. Trump also asked Biden to play golf with him. And Biden, who didn’t want to be outdone, said he would gladly do so if Trump carried his own golf bag.
“And thank God for our own President. They used so many things to attack him in relation to his health. But as we can all see, the man doesn’t only communicate sense; he has also proven to be witty.
“Take for instance when he fell over during the last Democracy Day celebration in Abuja. He later told us that he was doing ‘buga’ and that he did ‘dobale’ to celebrate the day.”
“So, it may be true that the President hasn’t done any cognitive test yet, but his performance in office, the decisions he took and how he comports himself in public allay my fears,” Igwe said.
Another political analyst and businessman, Shedrack Egbule, said, “It is a good idea, but forget it. It will never happen in this country.
“I say it will not happen because, health wise, we don’t value our lives in this country and we also don’t know how to take care of ourselves. We take our health for granted. We think nothing can go wrong with our health and so we don’t put such tests into consideration.
“I just hope that before the next general elections, the President will lead by example and take his own tests. I know that by then it will still not be in our laws, but the President’s action will send a positive signal.
“Look at those we lost in the National Assembly. Except we don’t want to lose more souls there, we must all demand that the tests become a part of our electoral agenda,” Egbule
said.