{"id":23914,"date":"2020-01-18T20:05:54","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T19:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=23914"},"modified":"2020-01-18T20:05:54","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T19:05:54","slug":"why-i-will-bequeath-free-and-fair-elections-by-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=23914","title":{"rendered":"Why I will bequeath free and fair elections, by Buhari"},"content":{"rendered":"

Release<\/strong>
\nBy Garba Shehu<\/strong>, Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity)
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari has declared that as a beneficiary of a free and fair election he would bequeath same to his successor and the nation in 2023.
\nThe President spoke at a dinner with members of the legal team for the 2019 presidential election petition on Thursday in Abuja.
\nThe President recounted that the turnout of Nigerians during his 2019 presidential campaigns to the 36 states of the Federation convinced him that his re-election was not a fluke.
\n

\"\"
President Buhari speaking at the dinner organised for members of the Presidential Legal Team on Thursday, January 16, 2020. \u00a0\u00a0Photo by: Bayo Omoboriowo<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n 
\n\u2018\u2018The number of people that turned out in every state across the country was more than anybody can buy or force.
\n\u2018\u2018This gave me so much confidence and the election proved that with the votes I got.
\n\u2018\u2018That is why I insist that elections must be free and fair because I am a clear successor to a free and fair election,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe President told the legal team that he was already looking forward to a peaceful hand over to a successor in 2023, stressing that he was morally bound to fulfil that wish.
\n\u2018\u2018Morally I want to have a clear conscience. I swore by the Holy Book that I will abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
\n\u2018\u2018I will continue to do my best and I hope that by 2023, I can handover quietly to whoever succeeds me and I wish him the best of luck,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe President commended the legal team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN for the outstanding legal successes recorded in the presidential election petition.
\nHe praised the team for the effective legal strategy that thrived in piloting his presidential election litigation.
\n\u2018\u2018You creditably demonstrated a deep understanding of the law and its practices and I am indeed proud of you all.
\n\u2018\u2018I am confident that by securing a convincing and unanimous legal victory at the Supreme Court you have by so doing ensured that the political mandate of the Nigerian electorate is now firmly secured,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe President added that the legal team\u2019s enormous contributions have affirmed the rule of law and further entrenched democratic governance in Nigeria.
\n\u2018\u2018This legal team is an assemblage of some of the most scholarly legal teams ever assembled in this country.
\n\u2018\u2018I must note that the aforesaid legal successes recorded through your excellence have assisted me in fulfilling this government\u2019s desire for a better Nigeria,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nOn behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President told the team to accept his commendations and best wishes for their meritorious service.
\nIn his remarks, the lead counsel, Chief Olanipekun said the legal victory was won based on the facts of the law, stressing that the President never used his position or office to influence the decision of the Courts.
\nThe lead counsel said: \u201cThe courts were allowed to do their job, Mr President and I must commend you for that Sir. Nobody whispered to anyone of us, how we are going to see Judge A or Judge B. That\u2019s the way it should be. Judges must be allowed and be given free hand to do their job.
\n\u2018\u2018Mr President, we are happy to have been called upon and we are happy that we delivered. \u2019\u2019
\nOn electoral reforms, Olanipekun acknowledged that while the National Assembly was doing something about the Electoral Act, the Act requires some \u2018\u2018rejigging and cleansing.\u2019\u2019
\n\u2018\u2018We are happy to know that the National Assembly is doing something about the Electoral law.
\n\u2018\u2018We are ready to cooperate with them without taking a dime, whether as consultants, whether as legal practitioners, whether as experts. If the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) will co-opt us we are ready to give assistance,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nOlanipekun commended the President\u2019s commitment to the rule of law, saying \u2018\u2018it is the surest legacy Mr President can bequeath to our dear nation.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Release By Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity) President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that as a beneficiary of a free and fair election he would bequeath same to his successor and the nation in 2023. The President spoke at a dinner with members of the legal team for the 2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":23916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[800,31,801],"class_list":["post-23914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-bequeath","tag-buhari","tag-olanipekun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}