Buhari will not hand over to treasury looter in 2023 —Presidency

The Presidency said on Monday President Muhammadu Buhari would not handover government to a treasury looter in 2023.

The Presidency also said President Buhari would not handpick his successor but would ensure that his likely successor enjoyed the support of a large majority of Nigerians.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated these when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The statement from the presidential aide came just 24 hours after the General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, implored President Buhari to influence the choice of his successor in 2023.

Bakare was the President’s running mate in the 2011 election.

According to Adesina, the President will not handpick his successor and neither will he handover to those who would erase the successes recorded by his administration in the fight against corruption.

He also reiterated President Buhari’s resolve not to participate in elective position at the end of his tenure in 2023, adding that he has his exit plan.

He said: “By May 2023, God willing he (the President) would have finished his second term as president. He would not stand for another term and he will be exiting. So, he has that at the back of his mind.

“Pastor Bakare said the President should be interested in who succeeds him, yes, I’m sure the President will be interested in who succeeds him. But he will not manipulate the process, to pick a successor.

“The President will not pick a successor we know him, he is not somebody like that. Will he be interested in the process? Yes, he will.

“He will ensure that there is a free, fair and credible election; that nobody will come to use money and resources to bamboozle his way into the leadership of the country. It will not happen.

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“The President will ensure free, fair and credible process, but to handpick a successor? No, he will not do that.”

On Pastor Bakare’s advice, Adesina added: “The President will ensure that Nigeria is in safe hands. There is no point having worked, having made gains, having made advances since 2015-2023, to hand Nigeria over to those who will take her back or hand Nigeria over to looters once again or you allow looters to allow stolen funds to work for them to seize power. No, that will not happen.

“The President will be interested that much in who succeeds him. But he is not going to impose anybody. Rather, he is going to create a free and fair process and Nigerians are then going to determine who the next president should be.”

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