The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Friday, in Abuja, said his principal, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), would not be persuaded into tweaking the constitution or implementing activities that may undermine a peaceful handover of power on May 29, 2023.
“Given his inclination, nobody would dare walk into the Villa today and say, President Buhari, stay back don’t handover,” Shehu said at the State House mosque on Friday evening when Buhari observed the Tafsir which has been underway for the previous two weeks.
Shehu stated that ideas for an interim administration did not emanate from the president and Nigerians may rest confident that “nothing will change” the handing-over date.
On March 29, the Presidential Campaign Councils of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party urged the Department of State Services to catch plotters of the temporary national government.
Their request follows a declaration by the Nigerian secret police, Directorate of State Service, disclosing that certain individuals were conspiring to postpone Tinubu’s inauguration and create an interim national government instead.
On March 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Tinubu as the victor of the February 25 presidential election.
The APC presidential candidate received 8,794,726 votes to beat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, who collected 6,984,520 votes and the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who scored 6,101,533 votes.
After INEC’s pronouncement, Atiku and Obi challenged the results stating that the election was manipulated. More so, a former Anambra State Governor and statesman, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, declared Tinubu will not be sworn in as President.
But addressing on Friday, the presidential spokesperson said, “You can see clearly that he’s gazing at the departure door and absolutely nothing will stop President Muhammadu Buhari from departing on May 29.
“Nigerians may be confident that from here, nothing will change. Before this period, persuaders would have filled up this spot, imploring the President to remain, modify the Constitution, and change the regulations.
“But given his disposition, nobody would dare walk into the Villa today and say, President Buhari, stay behind, don’t hand over.”
Friday’s observance marked the closing ceremony of this year’s Ramadan Tafsir at the State House Mosque by the Chief Imam, Sheikh Abdulwahid Sulaiman, who is heading to Saudi Arabia on minor Hajj. It is also Buhari’s last as President.
The Imam presented a rendition of the President’s efforts in the last eight years and hoped that he would take over peacefully in a couple of weeks.
