President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he is not afraid of a credible process in 2019.
Buhari spoke during an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community in China yesterday.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President also reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the 2019 polls are free, fair and credible.
He said Nigerians eligible to vote will be allowed to freely elect candidates of their choice.
Buhari said: ‘‘I have no fear about free and fair elections because that is what brought me to the present position. I know what I went through and very few Nigerians could boast of trying four times (contesting for President).
‘‘Those interested in participating in the elections must get their PVCs, register in their constituency and elect anybody of their choice across ethnicity and religion.
‘‘The Nigerian police, law enforcement agencies and INEC must respect the people to express their wishes.’’
Citing recent elections in Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi states, the President said the country had made progress relative to elections conducted in the past.
On security, Buhari reaffirmed that his administration had succeeded in curtailing Boko Haram insurgents, adding that the terrorist group no longer controls any part of the country.
He attributed the success to operations of security agencies deployed to counter insurgency in the Northeast.
‘‘You will all recall that we contested the last election basically on three issues, which include security, especially in the Northeast.
‘‘The Boko Haram used to occupy quite a number of local governments in Borno State but they are not in anyone now. They have resorted to a very dangerous way of terrorism by indoctrinating young people, mostly girls and attacking soft targets, churches, mosques and marketplaces,’’ Buhari said.
On herders and farmers clashes, the President told Nigerians in the Diaspora that while security agencies were doing their best to curtail the clashes, the media needed to complement the efforts through objective and informed reportage.
He urged the media to attempt to understand the cultural and historical implications of some of the misunderstanding between herders and farmers.
‘‘To my disappointment, there are a number of things which the members of the press in Nigeria do not make enough efforts, in my observation, to study the historical antecedents of issues that are creating national problems for us.’’ he said
According to him, due to the effects of climate change, a farm that used to belong to five people now belong to 50 people. Besides, said Buhari, the weather condition, particularly the rainy season is now unpredictable.
The President blamed the farmer’s, herders’ controversy on the shrinking of the Lake Chad, which has forced many to seek greener pastures for their herds in other parts of the country.
On Nigeria-China relations, he praised China’s generosity and contribution to the development of Nigeria, citing the successful completion of the Abuja-Kaduna railway line, built by the Chinese, and ongoing works on Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin, Abuja, Kano railway routes.
He said Nigeria and China were also negotiating the Mambilla project.
President Buhari advised Nigerians planning to travel abroad for ‘‘greener pastures’’ to do so legitimately and not to expect too much from their countries of destination.
‘‘You cannot seek greener pastures in a place where you are not respected because of the colour of your skin or your lack of education or other things. Personally, I think you will earn more respect when you remain at home and get a job,’’ he said.
Acknowledging the material and intellectual support of Nigerians in the Diaspora to Nigeria’s development, the President assured all that his administration will remain focused and committed to providing the needed infrastructure and doing the needful for Nigeria’s prosperity.
Nigerian Ambassador to China Baba Ahmed-Jidda thanked the President for his support to the Embassy, which led to the completion of the Ambassador’s residence.
The Ambassador praised Nigerians resident in China for being law abiding, with the exception of few.
On consular matters, the envoy told the President Nigerians still faced difficulties in obtaining Chinese visas – an issue he thinks the President should take up with the Chinese authority.
The president of the China Chapter of Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation, Brian Akiti, wishing the country successful elections in 2019, pledged the support of the organisation to the present administration’s development agenda.
At a separate event, the President also met with Nigerian students on scholarship in China.
He told them: “I hope you will make the best use of this opportunity given to you. Nigeria is grateful to China for extending this generosity to us.
‘‘The Chinese are helping Nigeria greatly with building infrastructure; it is very much appreciated. We are pleased with the training they are providing for our Nigerian students.”
President Buhari also met with the executives of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), during which he lauded the construction group for its immense contributions to infrastructure development in Nigeria.
