President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed his success in the 2015 presidential poll to the will of God as well as the introduction of the electronic system and Card Reader by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which ensured that people’s votes counted.
Mr Buhari, who spoke during a live debate, tagged ‘The Candidates’ for the 2019 general elections in Abuja, stressed that he tried three times earlier to be President but was unsuccessful.
He said: “I tried 2003 and I was in court for 13 months, 2007. I was in court for 18 months in 2011 and went up to the Supreme Court. I sat down and said, God Dey. For the fourth time, God and technology helped me.”
On his second term ambition, the President said: “I said it much earlier at the National Executive Committee of our party that if my party recommended me to its executive, I would contest. I did that to save time and wide discussions among members of the party.
“So, those who felt very strongly about it left the party and the party nominated. Why? It is because I felt that the three fundamental objectives we campaigned in 2015 are still relevant.
“We want to remind Nigerians to see when we started — 2015 — where we are now, what we have been able to do in between this time of three and a half years with the resources and time available to us.”
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, also speaking on the party’s presidential mandate, said the President needed another term to consolidate on the gains of his administration.
“We campaigned on three fundamental issues, namely the economy, the fight against corruption and security. In those three respects, we believe that we have laid very strong foundations and I very strongly believe that we are on to much more progress if given a second opportunity.
“I very strongly take the view that the period of three and a half years, in particular, has been one where we have managed to turn around a lot of what was inherited in the previous 16 years.
“The previous 16 years were, in my view, a period during which a lot of revenue came in and very little appeared to have been done. We believe the foundations we’ve laid in agriculture and infrastructure really deserve a second term for completion,” Mr Osinbajo said.
