Buhari Says Old Age Will Limit His Performance But Gave Assurance He Would Make A Difference

Buhari Says Old Age Will Limit His Performance But Gave Assurance He Would Make A Difference

President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that his age would limit his performance as the President of the country. 

Buhari, who would turn 73 in December, allegedly  said he would have loved being a President when he was at a younger age . 

He said, “I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do,” he said while speaking with the Nigerian community resident in South Africa on Monday after the 25th  African Union Summit in South Africa.

He however gave assurance that his administration would make a difference, explaining that what brought him to his current position was his love for the country.

He recalled that he was in the war front for 30 months during the civil war, adding that like any other Nigerian, he lost relatives and loyal people to the war which claimed the lives of over two million Nigerians.

 Hence nobody should come forward to talk about a breakup of the country, further stressing that Nigeria would remain one country since God had given him another opportunity to reorganise its affairs.

The President also promised that his administration would “kill” corruption before it wrecks the nation.

“Our government is determined to secure the country, manage the economy, create employment and fight corruption. Some articulate writers have said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. This APC administration intends to kill corruption in Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you,” Buhari stated.

He said there was no big deal in the claims by those who accused him of jailing them because he was also jailed for over three years.

“After being in the military for 25 years, and getting to the highest rank and becoming Head of State and under unusual circumstances, as Head of State, I went straight to detention for three-and-a-half years. So, those who accuse me of locking them up, I too have been locked up; so what?” he declared.

The President said he would not have believed   if he had been told during his days in the military that he would one day join partisan politics.

He explained that he joined partisan politics with a view to meeting the needs of the people.

Buhari said, “Why did I join partisan politics in spite of that? When I went home people knew that I have no money and I thought they will leave me alone, but they didn’t.

“They were coming to me asking me to do this and do that.  I found out that the only way I could do it is by joining partisan politics.

“And maybe if I speak even if I’m not a member at any level, people will listen to me.

“But then I joined the opposition (the All Peoples Party). I didn’t want any political office at first, if I wanted, I would have joined the PDP(Peoples Democratic Party) then and maybe I would have got to where I am much earlier. But then, I wanted to go with the opposition.

Buhari said he believed that the best form of governance was democracy, but elections must be free and fair.

That, he said, was why he was in trouble and he had to move from the APP to the ANPP(All Nigerian Peoples Party) to CPC(Congress for Progressive Change) and eventually to the APC.

Buhari   explained that he contested his defeats in 2003, 2007 and 2011 up to the Supreme Court because of his belief that elections must be free and fair.

He said, “In all those cases from the High Court to the Supreme Court, we sent people to the field, they found out why the elections were not fair.

“They came to the court and gave evidence but in the end, they will say ‘oh well, there were some flaws in the elections but the PDP has won.

“But at last, the PDP has lost.’’

While explaining that he had occupied different positions like military governor of the North Eastern State, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Head of State and Chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund, he stated  people only remember his days at the PTF because he equipped hospitals and schools.

The President said, “I bought bed sheets and   X-ray machines for hospital and   buses for the schools.

“They (Nigerians) remember me more as chairman of the PTF than as a former Head of State, than a governor or a Minister of Petroleum.

“In spite of the fact that it was during my time that I signed the contract for the Warri Refinery, Kaduna Refinery, more than 3,500 pipelines and more than 20 depots.

“We got the tankers off the roads;   we saved lives; we saved fuel and we saved the roads.

“But from 1999 till date, the PDP messed them up. That is why Nigerians decided to vote me.”

Buhari said despite the money politics being played in Nigeria, his victories during APC’s primary and the March 28 presidential elections had proved that Nigerians knew what they wanted.

He said some rejected inducement while some collected and still did exactly what they wanted to do when there was time to vote.