Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday swore to serve out his term and vacate as constitutionally mandated in 2023.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, on Friday.
The President warned those he called elongated term campaigners to desist from such expectations saying that he won’t embark on any unconstitutionality.
The statement quoted Buhari as speaking at a meeting in Makkah with a select group of Nigerians resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he just ended a visit.
The Nigerian President was quoted as swearing, “I swore by the Holy Qur’an that I will serve in accordance with the constitution and leave when my time is up. No “Tazarce’’ (tenure extension). I don’t want anybody to start talking about and campaigning for unconstitutional extension. I will not accept that.”
President Buhari also tacitly expressed support for efforts to increase the role of technology in the nation’s elections, arguing that the introduction of the card reader and electronic register was God’s answer to his prayers, having been cheated of his victory in three previous elections.
“After the third so-called defeat, I said, ‘God Dey’. My opponents laughed at me but God answered my prayers by bringing in technology. At that point, nobody can steal their votes or buy them,” the President added.
President Buhari, who ended his visit to the Kingdom with the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah said he will continue to abide by the constitution in all its ramifications and he will at all times supervise and deal with his ministers on same basis, the statement further noted.
He gave assurances at the meeting that in the balance of “eighteen months or so of my time left, whatever I can do to improve the life of Nigerians, I will do it for the country.”
The President commended diaspora Nigerians in the Kingdom for representing the country well and projecting its good image.
Speaking on insecurity, he said, “My problem is the North West where people are killing and stealing from one another. I had to be very hard on them and I will continue to be very hard until we put them in line and bring back order,” he said.
President Buhari urged Nigerians living in the country to respect the laws, remain law-abiding and do nothing to derogate from the many years of friendly and mutually beneficial relationships between the two countries.
According to the statement, a leader of the community, Dr. Abdulkadir Maikudi, who spoke on behalf of the group requested the President to assist the privately-run Nigerian International School in the Kingdom by equipping it to provide science and technical education.
The Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yahaya Lawal and the Consul-General in Jeddah, Ambassador Abdulkarim Mansur attested to the good conduct of the nearly 1.5 million Nigerians there in the statement released to journalists.
According to them, “Nigerian professionals are doing well and projecting a good image of our country.”
