President Muhamaddu Buhari has criticised opposition parties in the 2023 elections for creating the impression of incompetent party leadership, and choatic elections to the international community while highlighting the success of the elections at both the national and state levels.
Buhari spoke at the book launch: “A promise kept,” a compendium of significant achievements of Muhammadu Buhari administration 2015-2023, held at the council chambers of the presidential Villa.
Buhari who stood at the podium, gazing out at the sea of faces before him, said he had never been one to revel in surprises despite his 20 years in the military, and commended the MBO Dynamic Support Group led by Usman Ibrahim, for managing to catch him completely off guard.
“Thank you for surprising me with your generosity and kindness,” he said.
“I think by my profession, I spent most of my time that is the military for 20 years, there wasn’t this kind of surprise. If you allow yourself to be taken by surprise, you will be virtually overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting this, honestly. Especially today when I need to sign a few papers because I know on Monday, from the swearing in venue, I will fly directly to Kaduna, and then I will go to the other side of Nigeria.
“Thank you for surprising me with your generosity and kindness”
The president stated that the APC had achieved it set objective as a political party, noting that the last elections were transparent as people voted their choice candidates.
Buhari said citizens were not influenced by money judging by the outcome of the exercise where serving governors and lawmakers lost their bids for re-election.
The President said what his administration and the party wanted to achieve was to
develop a firm political culture.
He said: “I think I was expecting too much. When I was in Doha, meeting with some heads of states, I was getting calls from Europe, America, and Nigeria, congratulating us on the success of elections.
“The opposition has created the impression outside the country that we are going into a mess because we have incompetent leadership of the party.
“They were overwhelmed that the election came and went and both at the centre and at the states, fantastic.
“How can 10 sitting governors of states lose their constituencies, this has been unprecedented.
“So I congratulate you, the national working committee and others here, that we have really proved that democracy is worth defending.
“Nigerians have understood it now. Otherwise, how can they vote against their sitting governors stopping them from going to the senate to rest?
“So they were really overwhelmed, and I congratulate our political development. Please congratulate your constituencies, it means that even though you have excess money, they will collect and put in their pockets but they will elect the person they trust from any constituency, either House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate until it comes to the president itself.
Because it was so transparent, everything was done there in front of everybody. committee by committee from various constituencies lined up and picked the candidate they wanted.
“So really, we have virtually politically arrived. I congratulate our party.”
President Buhari reiterated that the duo of President-elect Bola Tinubu and Vice-President elect, Kashim Shettima, had the required experience to develop Nigeria, having been two terms governors and senators.
He said: “Today, we prayed together with Asiwaju, and I congratulated him, and I said I am eager to go to the other side of Nigeria. I wish him the best of luck.
“I said his vice president is experienced, a two-time governor in his state and then the senate. And this is how we got their chairman of our party, two time governor in his state, and also he has been in the senate.
“So they are people really from the bottom of the system to the top. When you get experienced people to be in charge, making important decision, they will always reflect on their experiences and they can hardly go wrong. So I congratulate you and our party.
“I thank you very much for this major surprise, I think now when I go back, I will have time to read some books, not just about myself but about other issues.
“I assure you, I have been counting the days, I am looking forward to Monday very desperately. I will use the weekend to sign some of the papers so that from Eagles Square, I will fly to Kaduna and eventually go to Daura. Thank you very much.”
Shettima euologied and reflected on the Buhari’s administration, which he said inherited a country that was left in tenterhooks.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu, described the president as a politician stepping aside but not tired.
“You worked hard tirelessly to build the nation and make it better for all of us”, he said.
The co-launcher, Godswill Akpabio, described Buhari as a humane personality but clearly misunderstood because of his stern look.
He said under his watch, NDDC headquarters, which has been going on for two decades, was completed as well as 77 roads in Niger Delta, including that of Edwin Clark.
“The people of Niger Delta and the southeast will not forget you because of the second Niger Bridge.”
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