ASO ROCK WATCH: Buhari’s verdict on 2023 presidential election. Two other talking points

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that the February 25 presidential election reflected the will of the people.

Two other stories from the presidency were also reviewed for your reading delight.

1. Buhari’s verdict on the presidential election

On March 1, President Buhari noted that the victory of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, indicated the choice of Nigerians.

“There is no doubt the people’s decision has been rendered in the results we look at today. That is not to say the exercise was without fault,” the President was quoted in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

“However, none of the issues registered represents a challenge to the freeness and fairness of the elections,” he added.

Buhari’s verdict has been contested, and largely so, on the basis of his total disregard of alleged electoral irregularities that played out at different polling units across the country.

Many argue, and perhaps rightly so, that the president’s disposition amounts to an attempt to trivialise the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) violation of its guideline of uploading election results from the polling units as entrenched in the Electoral Act, 2022.

Indeed, the President must admit that the conduct of the election was a far cry from his promise to deliver a free, and fair election as a parting gift to Nigerians.

Two other talking points

2. Buhari’s apology on the Naira redesign

President Buhari, on March 3, appealed to Nigerians to forgive him over the untold hardship they face due to the cash crunch caused by the Naira redesign policy.

Buhari tendered the apology when he spoke in Hausa in a viral video, addressing Kaduna State residents to vote for the APC governorship candidate in the state, Senator Uba Sani.

READ ALSO:ASO ROCK WATCH: On Buhari’s violation of electoral rules. Two other talking points

“I apologise to you for the hardship caused by the change of the Naira. It was done to boost the economy of the country, not to cause hardship to anybody,” he said.

Buhari’s apology sounds like a meal served on the altar of politics. The question many ask is, what is the presidency doing to manage the current disaster that has thrown the economy into an unimaginable crisis?

Beyond the apology, Buhari needs to explore all options available to him to end the cash crunch before he and the ruling party bring a revolution upon the country.

3. Buhari’s endless promises on insecurity

On March 3, President Buhari, again, vowed to end all forms of insecurity in the country before he leaves office on May 29, 2023.

He made the vow in his country home in Daura, Katsina State, while virtually inaugurating 700 Ashok Leyland’s Troop-Carrying Vehicles assembled in Lagos.

“Let me firmly assure Nigerians that the Federal Government remains steadfast and committed to winning the war against insurgency and other criminalities,” he said.

Buhari’s vow depicts his desire to keep Nigeria safe, even as he has continuously failed to do so.

His promises, disappointingly, now sound like a broken record, especially before the victims, and those who had been indirectly affected by the nefarious activities of criminals.

With barely three months to vacate Aso Rock Villa, it does seem that history will not be kind to him on security issues.

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