April 21, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their patience during his eight-year presidency, which started in 2015.
Speaking on Friday, at the ninth and final Sallah homage by residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), led by the minister, Mohammed Bello, at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Buhari, who noted that he must have hurt some people in the course of his duties, asked to be forgiven.
“Thank you for tolerating me…I consider myself lucky to have been a governor, minister and head of state and now president for two terms.
“I think this is a very good coincidence for me to say goodbye to you and to thank you for tolerating me for more than seven and half years now.
“I assure you, I have deliberately arranged to be as far away from you as possible not because I don’t appreciate the love you’ve shown to me, but because I think I’ve gotten what I have asked and I would rather quietly retire to my hometown.
“Having been a Governor, Minister and the President twice, I think God has given us an incredible opportunity to serve as your president. And I thank God for that.
“So, please whoever feels I have done wrong to, we are all humans. There is no doubt I hurt some people and I wish you will pardon me. And those that think that I have hurt them so much, please pardon me”, he appealed.
Earlier in his Eid message, President Buhari has scored his administration high in the just concluded elections in the country, enthusing that the elections were so transparent that some members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), lost re-election
The President said that at no point did he interfere with the process in order to give unfair advantage to anyone.
President Buhari said that the peaceful outcome of the 2023 general elections “will go down on record as one of the proudest achievements of my administration in addition to our neutrality in the conduct of the elections.”
He further explained that “the outcomes of the elections were in line with my pledge to leave a legacy of free and fair elections.
“I’m proud that I have created a level playing field for all contestants regardless of party affiliation in order to produce a fair outcome for all.
According to the President, “free and fair elections are the only principles that give credibility to our democracy, because the subversion of the will of the people undermines democracy itself.
“The elections were so transparent that even members of the my own party were routed and unseated. At no point did I interfere with the process in order to give unfair advantage to anyone”, he added.
