- Democracy is worth defending – Buhari
The All Progressives Congress, on Friday lavished praises on President Buhari for the work done in the eight years of his presidency which had brought him accolades at home and abroad.
This was the highlight at the Launch of a book, “A Promise Kept: Compendium of the Significant Achievements of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration” at the State House, Abuja.
Published by the Muhammadu Buhari – Osibanjo Dynamic Support Group, the compendium is a compilation of the giant strides and accomplishments of the Buhari administration in the past eight years.
President Buhari said he was encouraged that many Nigerians were appreciative of his administration’s landmark achievements, despite the global challenges and the continued shortfall in the nation’s revenue.
According to him, his greatest legacy was “the enthronement of a sound political culture, which was instrumental to the political upsets witnessed in the 2023 General Elections.”
President Buhari affirmed that the new consciousness “has proven that Democracy is worth defending and that Nigerians will elect who they trust, irrespective of political party. A situation where 10 sitting governors were denied senatorial seats by their constituents is unprecedented,” the President further stated.
Congratulating the President- elect and his Vice, President Buhari stressed that it was imperative that the nation’s affairs are entrusted into capable hands.
“The Vice President – elect is experienced, having been a two term governor and being in the Senate. So these are people who have grown from the bottom of the system to the top. When you place experienced people to be in charge, in making important decisions, they will always reflect on their experiences and they can hardly go wrong,” the President said.
Vice President -elect, Kashim Shettima who represented President – elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commended the publishers, extolling President Buhari’s exemplary leadership in tackling insurgency, corruption and in bridging the infrastructural deficits in the country.
He stressed that history would recall that when President Buhari had the mantle of leadership in 2015, the nation was in a strait and that he doggedly tackled them.
“I bear testimony to the fact that in 2015, one third of Borno was under the control of bandits and the population in the city had ballooned to over three million destitute” saying “the same situation obtains in Adamawa, Yobe and other states in the North.”
He also noted that when many states could not pay salaries, President Buhari came to their rescue.
Shettima commended the sterling qualities of President Buhari, declaring that “in spite of malicious concoctions and dubious aspersions on his person, he never resorted to any extra judicious means to extract vengeance.”
National Chairman of the APC, Adamu Abdullahi said the National Working Committee of the party had three fundamental reasons for launching the compendium of significant achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari administration:
“The NWC joins millions of our compatriots to celebrate and pay a befitting tribute to the authentic living legend of our time, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. He is the national leader of our party who, along with many patriots, birthed the party, nursed it until it grew to what it is today, a political colossus in the service of democracy and the nation.”
Adamu recalled that “when he first came to office on the last day of December 1983, he met a nation in dire straits. The economic and social problems the country was grappling with were daunting, but he was not daunted,” adding that his words of exhortation to the nation in 1983, “this generation of Nigerians, and indeed, future generations, have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together,” still rang loud and clear.
Adamu affirmed that in all the years President Buhari sought for the leadership of the country through the democratic platform, Buhari “was driven, not by personal aggrandizement and vanity, but by patriotic zeal. He was driven by the desire for selfless leadership that our country deserves and not allowing our great natural and human resources to be squandered.”
The second and third reasons, according to the National Chairman, were “to leave for posterity, the landmark achievements of the Buhari-Osinbajo administration over the past eight years,” and “to formally thank the President for the opportunity given to us – members of the NWC, to serve our party at all levels. Guided by his wisdom, the NWC led the party to victory in the last national elections that produced the President-elect, Vice-president elect, Governors, as well as members of the National and State assemblies across the country.”
The Chairman expressed optimism that the President, on retirement, “will avail the party of his experience and guidance in steering the ship of state through the rough waters of our national politics as we continue to grapple with the challenges of firming up our democracy.”
