President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has assured President Goodluck Jonathan that he has nothing to fear.
Buhari, in his acceptance speech after
being declared the winner of Saturday’s presidential election and
presented with certificate of return in Abuja on Wednesday, said
“despite the rancour of the elections,” he harboured no grudge against
anyone.
To prove this, he extended “a hand of friendship and conciliation to President Jonathan and his team.”
Buhari read a prepared speech in which he
also reiterated his determination to end insurgency in the North-East,
rescue the economy and stem corruption which he described as an evil
worse than terrorism.
The President-elect, who was Head of
State between 1983 and 1985, said even though there could be a
disagreement between him and Jonathan over governance, the President
remained a great Nigerian.
He said, “Let me state clearly that
President Jonathan has nothing to fear from me. Although we may not
agree on the methods of governing the nation, he is a great Nigerian and
still our president. He deserves our support and permanent respect by
virtue of the office he has held.
“This is how an honourable nation treats
its servants and conducts its affairs. I should be looking forward to
meeting with President Jonathan in the days to come to discuss how our
teams can make the transition of administrations as efficient as
possible.”
On insurgency, he said, “No doubt, this
nation has suffered greatly in the recent past, and its staying power
has been tested to its limits by crises, chief among which is insurgency
of the Boko Haram.
“There is no doubt that in tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do.
“But I assure you that Boko Haram will
soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this
nation of terror, and bring back peace and normalcy to all the affected
areas. We shall spare no effort until we defeat terrorism.”
Reiterating his readiness to fight
corruption which, according to him, constitutes a threat to “our
economic development and democratic survival,” he said, “no longer shall
it( graft) be allowed to stand as if it is a respected monument in this
nation.”
He added, “We shall strongly battle
another form of evil that is even worse than terrorism—the evil of
corruption. Corruption attacks and seeks to destroy our national
institutions and character.
“By misdirecting into selfish hands funds
intended for the public purpose, corruption distorts the economy and
worsens income inequality. It creates a class of unjustly-enriched
people.
“Such an illegal yet powerful force soon
comes to undermine democracy because its conspirators have amassed so
much money that they believe they can buy government.
“We shall end this threat to our economic
development and democratic survival. I repeat that corruption will not
be tolerated by this administration.”
Appealing to Nigerians to join him in “
resolving these and the other challenges we face,” he stated that “along
the way, there will be victories but there may also be setbacks.”
He added, “Mistakes will be made. But we
shall never take you for granted; so, rest assured that our errors will
be those of compassion and commitment not of wilful neglect and
indifference.
“We shall correct that which does not work and improve that which does. We shall not stop, stand or idle.”
Buhari also said that his declaration
as President-elect meant that the change many Nigerians had been
yearning for had finally come.
“Today, history has been made and change
has finally come. Your votes have changed our national destiny for the
good of all Nigerians,’’ he said in the speech titled, ‘‘The die is
cast.’’
Noting that the challenges ahead were
many, the President-elect said, “We shall, if necessary crawl, walk and
run to do the job you have elected us to do.”
He promised to deliver good governance
and ensure that his administration did not rule Nigerians “as if they
were subservient to government.”
Buhari also pledged that his government would respect the rule of law as nobody should be above the law.
The former military ruler said that he
would treat those who voted against him and those who did not vote
equally as those who voted for him on Saturday.
He said, “I pledge myself and our
in-coming administration to just and principled governance.There shall
be no bias against or favouritism for any Nigerian based on ethnicity,
religion, gender or social status.
“I pledge myself and the government to
the rule of law, in which none shall be so above the law that they are
not subject to its dictates, and none shall be so below it that they are
not availed of its protection.
“You shall be able to go to bed knowing
that you are safe and that your constitutional rights remain in safe
hands. You shall be able to voice your opinion without fear of reprisal
or victimisation.
“My love and concern for this nation and
what I desire for it extends to all, even to those who do not like us or
our politics. You are all my people and I shall treat everyone of you
as my own.
“ I shall work for those who voted for me
as well as those who voted against me and even for those who did not
vote at all. We all live under one name as one nation: we are all
Nigerians.”
Buhari, who had previously contested
three times said he had always enjoyed the support of Nigerians but
their votes were only allowed to count last Saturday.
He said, “We will govern for you and in
your interests. Your vote was not wasted. This is not the first time
Nigerians have cast their votes for us, and this is not the first time
they have been counted; but this is the first time that the votes have
been allowed to count. With the help of God, we pledge to do our utmost
to bring forth the Nigeria you seek.”
On his eligibility for the presidential
election, he said he would never have sought to contest if he had
adjudged himself incapable.
While he condoled with the families
that lost their loved ones in the celebration that followed his
victory on Tuesday, he also thanked Nigerians for reposing confidence in
him.
He said, “Most of all, I thank the people
of Nigeria for reposing their confidence in me at this trying moment.
Our nation wrestles many challenges including insecurity, corruption,
economic decline. I pledge to give you my best in tackling these
problems.
“The good people of Nigeria, your
obligation does not end with casting your ballot. I seek your voice and
input as we tackle these problems. This will not be a government
democratic only in form. It will be a government democratic in substance
and in how it interacts with its own people.”
He also thanked his party, the All
Progressives Congress, INEC, past leaders of the nation, world leaders,
civil society organistations for their roles in successful conduct of
the elections.
Buhari said, “Here, I want to thank my
party for selecting me as its candidate. I thank our party leaders and
members for the steadfast contributions they made to bring our dream to
fruition. I thank INEC, the police and all other government agencies for
performing their tasks in a proper manner and for refusing to be
induced to undermine the election and the democratic process.
“I also wish to thank religious leaders,
traditional leaders, the media, labour unions, civil society
organisations, organised private sector, youths and students for their
roles in this election.
“I give special thanks to President Obama
and his timely intervention and support for peaceful and credible
elections in Nigeria and for sending Secretary of State John Kerry and
other United States officials. The European Union – especially the
United Kingdom, France, Germany and other nations that were actively
involved in ensuring the success of this election are equally
appreciated. My sincere thanks to the United Nations Secretary General
Mr Ban-Ki moon. The Commonwealth, China, India and other Asian and Gulf
states are also hereby appreciated.
“Finally our brothers in the African
Union and ECOWAS have truly and clearly shown and demonstrated their
commitment to our democratisation process. Former Presidents John
Kuffour, Amos Sawyer, Bakili Muluzi and his team are well appreciated. I
must also add my appreciation for the role played by civil societies,
national and international observers, other world leaders in ensuring
that Nigeria holds free and fair elections.
“I assure all foreign governments that
Nigeria will become a more forceful and constructive player in the
global fight against terrorism and in other matters of collective
concern, such as the fight against drugs, climate change, financial
fraud, communicable diseases and other issues requiring global response.
I want to assure our fellow African nations that Nigeria will now stand
as a more constructive partner in advancing the matters of concern to
our continent, particularly with regard to economic development and
eradication of poverty.
“Former heads of state and presidents,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari,
Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Gen.Abdulsalami
Abubakar, deserve commendations for their statesmanship and words of
caution and counsel for peace during the tense moments of this electoral
period.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in his capacity as
the Chief Returning Officer for the presidential election, had
declared Buhari the winner of the poll at 2.50am and 3am on Wednesday.
Buhari polled 15,424,921 votes to beat
Jonathan, who received 12,853,162 votes in the election in which 12
other candidates participated.
Buhari won in 21 states and received 25 per cent of the total votes cast in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Jonathan, who won in 15 states and the FCT and received 25 per cent of the votes in 25 states of the federation and the FCT.
Jega, who revealed that over 700,000 ad
hoc staff were deployed for the March 28 and forthcoming April 11 polls,
said there was the need to keep reforming and improving the nation’s
electoral process.
He thereafter presented certificates of
return to Buhari and Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and
commended Nigerians for supporting INEC in the conduct of the polls.
I’m not surprised I won – Buhari
On Wednesday evening, Buhari told Cable News Network’s anchor, Christiane Amanpour, that he was not surprised that he defeated Jonathan at the polls.
He explained that the successful merger of the APC in 2013 signalled the beginning of the end of Jonathan’s administration.
The President-elect said, “I am not
surprised because of how we came into the merger. The main opposition
parties in Nigeria decided to come together to face the ruling party.
That means we had an additional spread and politicians across the length
and breadth of the country so I was not surprised.”
Buhari said immediately after his
inauguration on May 29, he would begin a process of national
reconciliation, especially in the violence-prone areas of the
Niger-Delta and the North-East.
He said, “The actual division that is
worth bothering about in terms of social instability and insecurity are
in the North-East and the in the Niger-Delta which I think have been
with this country long enough that we know how they started and what
stage they are in now and we are confident that we will rapidly give
attention to the insecurity in the country and I believe that we will
deal with them within a few months in office.”
The former Head of State said the issue
of insecurity would have been curbed long ago if the Jonathan
administration had formed a regional alliance with Cameroon, Chad and
Niger four years ago.
He said he would increase the tempo of
the war against insurgency which, according to him, the President
started getting right in January this year.
Buhari said, “If you recall, the Nigerian
soldiers, out of all ethical expectations were giving interviews to
foreign journalists that they were being sent to face the terrorists and
were not doing well because of the lack of weapons, poor training and
leadership.
“And the National Assembly attempted to
conduct a hearing by finding out how much was approved by the National
Assembly for budgetary allocation for weapons and training in the last
four years and they wanted to invite the service chiefs and the chief of
defence staff but the administration scuttled the hearing so the
performance of the military is being affected by corruption in the
system.”
Descibing himself as a converted democrat, he denied engaging in extrajudicial killings during his military administration.
When asked how he would cushion the
effect of the drop in global oil price, the president-elect said he
would revive the agricultural and mining sectors and block all holes
through which public funds are siphoned.
