President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday in Beijing China, said that as a beneficiary of free and fair elections, he is not afraid of a credible process in 2019.
To this effect, the President Muhammadu Buhari reaffirmed his commitment to making sure that the 2019 polls, under his watch, will be free, fair and credible.
Speaking at an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community in China, President Muhammadu Buhari pledged that Nigerians eligible to vote in the next general elections will be allowed to freely elect candidates of their choice.
‘‘I have no fear about free and fair elections because that is what brought me to the present position. I know what I went through and very few Nigerians could boast of trying four times… ‘‘Those interested in participating in the elections must get their PVCs and register in their constituencies and elect anybody of their choice across ethnicity and religion. ‘‘The Nigerian police, law enforcement agencies and INEC must respect the wishes of the people,’’ he said.
Citing recent elections in Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi States, the President said the country had made progress relative to elections conducted in the past years.
On security issues, President Muhammadu Buhari reaffirmed that his government has succeeded in curtailing Boko Haram insurgents in the country, adding that the terrorist group no longer controls any part of the country.
He attributed the success to operations of security agencies deployed to counter insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country. ‘
‘You will all recall that we contested the last election basically on three issues, which includes security, especially in the North East. ‘‘The Boko Haram used to occupy quite a number of local governments in Borno State but they are not in any one now. They have resorted to a very dangerous way of terrorism by indoctrinating young people, mostly girls and attacking soft targets, churches, mosques and marketplaces,’’ he said.
On herders and farmers clashes in Nigeria, the President told Nigerians in the Diaspora that while security agencies are doing their best to curtail the clashes.