In his last national broadcast before heading home to Daura after his eight years tenure, President Muhammadu Buhari has apologised to Nigerians for what he called the temporary pains and suffering some of his measures to revamp the economy caused them.
He explained during the radio and television broadcast on Sunday morning that they were difficult choices he made for the overall good of the country.
“In the course of revamping the economy, we made some difficult choices, most of which yielded the desired results. Some of the measures led to temporary pain and suffering for which I sincerely apologised to my fellow countrymen, but the measures were taken for the overall good of the country,” he pleaded.
Noting what he called Nigerians’ overwhelming support for him, President Buhari remarked that spoke of the great expectations of citizens, saying that he never intended just politically correct but to do the correct things.
He said: “Fellow Nigerians, on the strength of your overwhelming support for me and my political party, I started this journey with a great deal of promise and expectation from you. I never intended to be just politically correct but to do the correct things that will make meaningful impact on the lives of the common Nigerian.
“This high expectation was not misplaced because, like the ordinary Nigerian, I had grown tired of watching the country progressively moving away from the path of correctness.
“To ensure that our democracy remains resilient and our elected representatives remain accountable to the people, I am leaving behind an electoral process which guarantees that votes count, results are credible, elections are fair and transparent and the influence of money in politics reduced to the barest minimum. And Nigerians can elect leaders of their choice.
“We are already seeing the outcome of this process as it provided an even playing field where persons without any political God-Father or access to money defeated other well-resourced candidates.
“The Nigerian economy has become more resilient due to the various strategies put in place to ensure that our economy remained afloat during cases of global economic downturns.”
The outgoing president, who said he was addressing the nation with “a deep sense of gratitude to God, a great deal of appreciation to the Nigerian people and a modest sense of fulfilment,” noted that the 2023 presidential election was the most keenly contested in the history of the nation.
He said those who felt aggrieved have the right to seek redress in court, admonishing that parties must accept the decisions of the court case irrespective of the outcomes.
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