President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he would not spend a day longer in office.
He denied nursing any plan to extend his tenure beyond May 23, 2023.
Speaking during a meeting with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Abuja, he said those who attempted to extend their tenures were disgraced.
President Buhari said Nigeria has adopted the American model, “hook, line, and sinker, with its term limits”.
“Those who have attempted to breach it were disappointed, if not disgraced. You are even lucky if you have two terms.
“Others try hard and don’t get it. The American model has been accepted by Nigerians as the best,” the President said.
He expressed appreciation to the United States for allowing Nigeria to procure military hardware to fight terrorism, and for capacity support.
“It’s helping us to stabilise the situation in the Northeast, and we’ve made a lot of progress since 2015,” he said.
“We are doing a lot on security, and the people involved appreciate our efforts.”
On the removal of Nigeria from the watchlist of countries violating religious freedom, which Blinken said was “based on facts,” President Buhari expressed the country’s appreciation.
He noted that there was freedom of worship in Nigeria, and no one is discriminated against based on his or her faith.
He said education is a priority in the country “because when you educate a people, there are certain levels they will not fall below.”
Nigeria and her neighbours, the President noted, have been living with the impact of climate change for a while, which has seen Lake Chad shrink drastically, affecting the livelihood of about 30 million people in the Basin.
“That is why the youths defy the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean to attempt emigrating to Europe.
“Inter-basin water transfer is needed to keep the youths at home, and they can resume their lives of farming, fishing, and animal husbandry,” he said.
Blinken said America and Nigeria have diverse challenges, but a common denominator in security, and hoped for better partnerships “so that the bad guys won’t get the good guys.”
He described the #EndSARS report as “democracy in action,” stressing that America had its case of police brutality.
He hopes for necessary reforms.
