President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that his term as President, which ends on May 29, 2023, is sacrosanct, and that those calling for an extension are wasting their time.
Buhari made the announcement during a meeting in Makkah with a select group of Nigerians living in Saudi Arabia, where he had just returned from a visit.
“By the Holy Qur’an, I swear that I shall serve in accordance with the constitution and leave when my term is over.”
“Tazarce” is not available (tenure extension).
I don’t want anyone to start advocating for unconstitutional extension and pushing for it.
That is unacceptable to me.”
Garba Shehu, the President’s media aide, released a statement in which he conveyed his message.
He also took the opportunity to call on citizens at home to be fair to his administration at all times, asking detractors to compare the security situations in the North East and South South in 2015 with how things are now.
He implied support for measures to extend the role of technology in the country’s elections, claiming that the introduction of the card reader and electronic register was God’s response to his prayers after he was denied 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.
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.
“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.
Buhari equally 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.
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.
According to them, “Nigerian professionals are doing well and projecting a good image of our country.”
