…As Presidency shrugs off air mishap rumour
President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn that he has no plan for third term in office, saying he will leave at the end of his eight-year tenure in 2023.
The president spoke at a meeting in Makkah with a select group of Nigerians resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he just ended a visit.
According to a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, President Buhari also tacitly expressed support to efforts to increase the role of technology in Nigeria’s elections, arguing that the introduction of the card reader and electronic register are God’s answer to his prayers, having been cheated of his victory at three elections prior to 2015.
“I swore by the Holy Qur’an that I will serve in accordance with the constitution and leave when my time is up. No “Tazarce’’ (tenure extension). I don’t want anybody to start talking about and campaigning for unconstitutional extension. I will not accept that.
“After the third so-called defeat, I said, ‘God Dey’. My opponents laughed at me but God answered my prayers by bringing in technology. At that point, nobody can steal their votes or buy them,” the President added.
President Buhari, who ended his visit to the Kingdom with the Friday Prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said he will continue to abide by the constitution in all its ramifications, and he will at all times supervise and deal with his ministers on same basis.
He gave assurances at the meeting that in the balance of “eighteen months or so of my time left, whatever I can do to improve the life of Nigerians, I will do it for the country.”
The President commended diaspora Nigerians in the Kingdom for representing the country well and projecting its good image.
He also used the opportunity to urge citizens at home to be fair to his administration at all times, asking the critics to compare the security situations in the North East and South South in 2015 and how things have improved as at now.
“My problem is the North West where people are killing and stealing from one another. I had to be very hard on them and I will continue to be very hard until we put them in line and bring back order,” he said.
President Buhari urged Nigerians living in the country to respect the laws, remain law-abiding and do nothing to derogate from the many years of friendly and mutually beneficial relationships between the two countries.
A leader of the community, Dr. Abdulkadir Maikudi, who spoke on behalf of the group requested the President to assist the privately-run Nigerian International School in the Kingdom by equipping it to provide science and technical education.
The Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yahaya Lawal and the Consul-General in Jeddah, Ambassador Abdulkarim Mansur attested to the good conduct of the nearly 1.5 million Nigerians there.
According to them, “Nigerian professionals are doing well and projecting a good image of our country.”
Meanwhile, another presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, has faulted reports that the aircraft on which President Buhari recently travelled to the United States developed fault mid-air.
Adesina described the reports published on some online platforms as an example of fake news that has become a major vice and threat to information dissemination in Nigeria.
“It didn’t happen. I was on that flight. We took off from New York, went straight to Santa Maria in Portugal, where we refueled. We took off and flew straight to Nigeria.
“Where is the mishap? It is a lie. It never happened…Do you know the number of people that have been misled by this fake news?
“Fake news is a problem, not only to Nigeria but to the whole world. The traditional media should be careful of fake news because we must first have a country before digital media can be useful to us.
“We must not allow digital media to be used to destroy our country. Digital media is good, but there is evil embedded in it.”
Adesina said.
The presidential spokesman, who said he has been a victim of fake news on many occasions, spoke in Abuja on Friday at the public presentation of a book, “101 fake news on EndSARS,” a publication of PRNigeria, authored by a journalist, Dahiru Lawal.
Adesina, who cited instances where his views were misrepresented by purveyors of fake news, expressed disappointment that members of the Yoruba group, Afenifere allowed themselves to be misled by fake news about his recent comparison between Buhari and some past political leaders.
He advised that the traditional media and professional journalists must be more careful because the digital media appear to be dictating the pace while the traditional media now rely on them.
Adesina, who noted that fake news was instrumental to the EndSARS protest and the massive destruction witnessed, said the problem would be more pronounced as the 2023 general elections draw close.
The presidential spokesman, who urged all to be vigilant, praised those behind the book for the initiative.
Dr. Umar Gwandu, the media aide to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, noted that fake news are always intended to cause harm.
Gwandu urged professional journalists not to allow quacks to take the lead and dictate the pace of information dissemination, because doing so will be a disservice to the country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PRNigeria, Yushau Shuaib, who reviewed the 207-page book, said it was intended to highlight the threat fake news poses to societal peace and security.