Opposition leader Atiku Abubakar has sympathised with President Bola Tinubu, his estranged longtime ally, over his “unfortunate” fall during this year’s June 12 Democracy Day commemoration on Wednesday.

“I hope all is well with the President,” wrote Mr Abubakar on X.

Sharing a viral video of Mr Tinubu’s fall on X, the former vice-president said, “I sincerely sympathise with President Bola Tinubu, @officialABAT, over this unfortunate incident as he was set to review the parade on Democracy Day.”

Peoples Gazette reported that Mr Tinubu, 72, tripped, fell, and hit his head on the floor of a parade vehicle at the Eagle Square on Wednesday. 

Before Mr Abubakar’s message, Mr Tinubu’s media aide, Dada Olusegun, dismissed the fall as a “mild misstep and no issue.”

“Mr President missed his step while climbing into the truck at the June 12 Democracy Day celebration and tripped,” Mr Olusegun said on X. “It was a mild misstep. No issues.”

According to Mr Olusegun, Mr Tinubu immediately proceeded with the ceremonial rounds. Mr Olusegun’s statement allayed fears that the president might have sustained a serious injury from the fall.

In the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, Mr Tinubu, in reaction to rising concerns about his failing health, had infamously said, “If you hear them saying, can I do it? I am not applying for the job of a gravedigger, not race running. I am not a horse. I am not applying for bricklaying. I went to school to study accountancy and management. 

“I am applying for a job of the brain, intelligent thinking; it is a job for someone who is ready to do things right. I will not let Nigerians down. I have the brain and capacity.”

At one time, Mr Tinubu spent three months in a London hospital where his media office said he underwent knee surgery and took so much time to rehabilitate. 

A video of Mr Tinubu’s dress soaked from behind published by Peoples Gazette two weeks ago elicited fresh rounds of criticism among Nigerians, with many suggesting the APC chieftain is suffering from urinary incontinence. 

Days later, Mr Tinubu’s estranged protégé, Rauf Aregbesola, then-interior minister, derided him at a political rally, saying “won ti n to ara,” a Yoruba expression meaning “they’re already urinating on themselves.”