By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The 2023 general elections will be one of the freest, fairest and most credible in Nigeria’s history in spite of President Muhammadu Buhari’s support for the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) gave this assurance after an assessment of the preparations and build-up to the elections starting on Saturday
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that the President has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) all the necessary support to ensure a free and fair electoral process.
“President Buhari has left no one in doubt of his intention to leave a legacy of electoral reforms beyond simply signing the Electoral amendment bill into law.
“He has since being walking the talk by ensuring total support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and only recently said at a gathering co-hosted by the United State Institute of Peace (USIP), the International Republican Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, that he was confident of the commission’s readiness for the 2023 election.
“We make bold to say that the President’s confidence was borne out of the fact that he has ensured that INEC got all the resources it asked for.
“And even in spite of having a candidate in the flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President has famously done what previous Presidents have not done by assuring all Nigerians of free choice.
“For him, it is not a do-or-die affair and he would rather publicly endorse the ruling party’s candidate and rally support for him, than seek to use ‘federal might’ to forcibly install a successor, like a former President once did.
“And can anyone forget in a hurry how opposition elements have been hailing President Buhari lately and taking up the role of his official spokespersons in the face of the new currency policy”.
BMO expressed confidence that a free,fair and credible election will be yet another legacy the President would be handing down to Nigerians by the time he leaves office in May this year.
