President Buhari won’t let Nigeria collapse, Tinubu assures citizens after Aso Rock meeting

*Says APC can rule beyond 2023

The APC chieftain also charged all well-meaning citizens to remain united in the wake of current security challenges confronting some parts of the country. He said all Nigerians must put aside their religious, political, or ethnic differences and cooperate with security agents to surmount the problem.

Former Governor of Lagos State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was received in audience by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday in State House, Abuja.

After the meeting, he told State House Correspondents that the president would not allow Nigeria to fall, even as he said Nigerians love the APC and that the party has capacity to rule beyond 2023.

Tinubu was fielding questions from State House correspondents after the closed-door meeting with President Buhari when he also reassured Nigerians that the President respects the Nigerian Constitution and would vacate office at the expiration of his tenure on May 29, 2023.

He said: “The chances are as bright as a midnight star and we will continue to work for a better Nigeria.

“We cannot interject politics and assumption in everything, we have a nation to build.

“We have a baton to pass. You can depend on Buhari that he will not spend one hour beyond his tenure. He will comply with the constitution.”

The APC chieftain also charged all well-meaning citizens to remain united in the wake of current security challenges confronting some parts of the country.

He said all Nigerians must put aside their religious, political, or ethnic differences and cooperate with security agents to surmount the problem.

He said: “Yes, every nation will go through these curves and difficult times but how we communicate it to the people and what are the areas to make it easier for the people to bear, those are ideas we have to be able to exchange with the leadership of the country.

“It calls for coming together to reduce banditry, move for unity and be able to bring a better Nigeria to the people because the welfare of our people is extremely important.

“This also calls for cooperation and understanding, effective security and effective giving of information.”

According to him, the President has the interest of all Nigerians at heart and will not like to see them facing difficulties.

“There is no president who will want to see his country in chaos nor is there anyone who will want to see his citizens exposed to banditry and danger.

“No president or a leader that will want to see his nation fractured in tribalism or religious differences and others.

“The current challenges call for serious management, evaluation, and dialogue once in a while,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, who also met behind closed door with the President, told the State House Correspondents that he updated him on recent happenings in the North East region.

Zulum expressed deep condolences to the families of soldiers, who recently lost their lives in the fight against terrorists in the North East.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to extend my condolences to the families of the deceased.

“I think it is my own responsibility to come and say the truth to the President, to let him know what is going on in the entire North-East sub-region.

“I think there is a need for us to get support in order for us to succeed in this war against insurgents.

“It is very pathetic; a few days ago, Damasak (Borno) was attacked, hundreds of people started fleeing Damasak and now, Geidam (Yobe) is almost deserted because many people have left Geidam.”