Politics
Our Democracy Is Getting Better, Tinubu Is The Best Candidate – Buhari
The President Muhammadu Buhari is of the opinion that Nigeria’s democracy experienced great improvement under his watch, and is getting better even as he passes on the baton.
In his farewell speech to Nigerians on Sunday, the President Buhari also congratulated the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying he is the best candidate.
While saluting the doggedness and resilience of all the Presidential Candidates and their political parties for believing in the judicial system by taking their grievances with the last election results to court, the president noted however, that in Tinubu, Nigerians have chosen well.
“This year we witnessed the most keenly contested Presidential Elections since the first Republic and this demonstrates that our democracy is getting better and more entrenched with each election.
“Our democracy provides for, allows and encourages seeking redress for any perceived injustices, enabling some candidates and political parties that did not agree with the results to go to court.
“To my brother, friend and fellow worker in the political terrain for the past ten years – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu -, I congratulate you on the realisation of your dream, which was propelled by a burning passion to put Nigeria amongst the leading nations of the world.
“You have indeed worked for this day and God has crowned your efforts. I have no doubt that your passion for excellence, reliance on competence, fairness in relationships, commitment to equity, loyalty to the country and desire for Nigeria to be globally relevant would come through for you, under God’s guidance, as you lead our country to levels higher that I am leaving.
“You are the best candidate among all the contestants and Nigerians have chosen well,” Buhari said.
The president further asserted that Nigeria must improve and sustain the gains his government has made in the electoral process, on an incremental basis for the country to take its rightful place among the Community of Nations.
He admonished that irrespective of the outcome of the various cases in court, all the parties involved must accept the decision of the courts and join hands to build a better Nigeria.
“In the course of the campaigns, we had argued and disagreed on how to make Nigeria better but we never disagreed or had any doubts that Nigeria has to be better.
“As your President, I call on all of us to bring to bear the strength of our individualism, the power of our unity, the convictions of our beliefs to make Nigeria work better and together with one spirit and one purpose,” Buhari said.
He appreciated the leadership and members of the National Assembly for their patriotism which did not detract from their roles as a check to the executive arm, noting that the nation’s democracy is built on and continues to thrive on the principles of separation of powers.
In summing up, the president said he is confident that he is leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, says he is willing to step down his presidential ambition in the 2027 elections for a better politician to emerge as the flag bearer of his party.
The lawyer stated this on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
“Everybody knows that I have an aspiration. I’m working on it but God is the author of tomorrow; we don’t even know who is going to be around in 2027,” Adebayo said.
“It is my prayer to God that if there is a person who God thinks is better than me to fix the problem of Nigeria, my ambition should not stop that person because we want a country that works. That is the kind of thing we are working on at this time.”
Adebayo said the SDP would give Nigerians a candidate that all citizens would be proud of and be ready to give a chance to unseat President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next presidential election.
The politician said the SDP won’t divide Nigerians along the delicate lines of religion and ethnicity.
He said, “What used to be an easy discussion – with religion and ethnicity – has become explosive now. So, we will not use the SDP forum to try to bifurcate our people into different zones.
“What we are looking for now is a system where when we make a choice in the SDP, there will be resounding joy outside the SDP and Nigerians will say: ‘Okay, finally, this platform has given the country a chance’.”
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for publicly acknowledging his efforts and calling him “Mr Infrastructure.”
Speaking to State House correspondents after the 2025 Eid-el-Fitr homage at the Presidential Villa, Wike described the President’s praise as a strong vote of confidence and a motivation to keep delivering results for residents of the FCT.
“I feel very happy that my boss has confidence in me,” Wike said. “If your boss, in public, says you are doing well, that, of course, is an encouragement for you to continue doing the job you’ve been assigned.”
The Minister, who has spearheaded a series of infrastructure and service delivery reforms across Abuja, said he remains committed to meeting the expectations of both the President and the people of the territory.
“For us, we’re happy to be identified in this administration, and we’ll continue to do what Abuja people will be happy with,” he said. “So I’m happy each time Mr. President talks about us and tries to say the little we have done. That means he’s watching, and we will not disappoint him.”
When asked about the next wave of infrastructure projects expected as the Tinubu administration approaches its second anniversary, Wike confirmed that a fresh round of projects is already in the works.
“The committee is working,” he revealed. “You can be assured it can’t be less than what we did last time.”
The Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani has declared interest for re-election in the 2027 general elections.
Shehu Sani made the declaration on Sunday while delivering his Eid-el-Fitr message at his residence in Kaduna.
He said, “any politician who is going to contest election will be dependent on political equation which will determine what position is going to contest. I would say that if the conditions are rights and equations favourable, I will offer myself to contest but specifically on the central senatorial district”.
“If the people of Kaduna central want us to provide our own kind of leadership and representation at the NASS, you should expect me back to Senate in 2027”.
According to him, his ambition is secondary while that of re-electing governor Sani for second term is primary.
He reiterated that his priority is to see governor Uba Sani re-elected in 2027.
“For now, we want to see that incumbent governor, Uba Sani is re-elected. We are going to do it with all our mights and strengths, we know that they are going to be challenges and opposition but we are well prepared for all the forces”.
Shehu Sani however, urged Muslims to pray for peace and unity of Nigeria during the celebration of Eid-el-Fitr.
Sani who also reacted to killing of hunters in Edo State condemned the act and urged security agencies to fish-out the perpetrators.
He said, “If any citizen of this country cannot move from one part of the country to another, then we are not a nation.
“If someone will use one reason or another to take laws into his/her hand then it means there is no government or authority”.
He added that Nigerians who desire good for the country should work for peace and unity for the preservation of our democracy in the phase of challenges that is being experienced by our people, he said.
Sani however, called on government to save Nigeria, saying that there should be respect for fundamental rights and most importantly is respect to right to life, he added.