Buhari: I Won’t Accept Tenure Extension

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned those campaigning for him to go beyond his constitutional tenure of office to box their arsenals because he is not ready for such venture.

The President made the declaration in Makkah during a meeting with a group of Nigerians resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
His words: “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.”

Buhari also tacitly expressed support for efforts to increase the role of technology in the nation’s elections, arguing that the introduction of the Smart Card Reader and electronic register was God’s answer to his prayers, having been allegedly cheated of his victory in three previous elections.

The President, who ended his visit to the Kingdom with the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said he would continue to abide by the constitution in all its ramifications and he would, at all times, supervise and deal with his ministers on same basis.

At the meeting, he vowed to do whatever he could, in the remaining 18 months of his tenure, to improve the life of Nigerians.

He asked critics to compare the security situation in the North East and South South in 2015 and now before judging him.

“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.

Leader of the group, Dr. Abdulkadir Maikudi, who spoke on behalf of the community, requested the President to assist the Nigerian International School, a private institution, in the Saudi Arabia by equipping it to provide science and technical education.

Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yahaya Lawal, and the Consul-General in Jeddah, Amb. 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 the good image of our country.