President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said that immediately he hands over to the next President on May 29, he will take off from the swearing-in venue to Kaduna before proceeding to Daura, his hometown.

He said he has been counting the days and was looking forward to Monday very desperately, adding that he would use the weekend to sign some of the papers so that from Eagles Square he will take off.

President Buhari also said that before the concluded general elections, the opposition political parties had created the impression outside the country that the All Progressives Congress-led administration was going into a mess because it has incompetent leadership

The outgoing President spoke at his Book launch with the title, “A promise kept, a compendium of significant achievements of Muhammadu Buhari Administration 2015-2023,” at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, “I think by my profession, I spent most of my time that is the military for 20 years, there wasn’t this surprise. If you allow yourself to be taken by surprise you will be virtually overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting this honestly. Especially today when I need to sign a few papers because I know on Monday, from the swearing-in venue I will fly directly to Kaduna and then I will go to the other side of Nigeria.

"Thank you for surprising me with your generosity and kindness. I think the achievement we wanted is to make we developed a firm political culture. I think I was expecting too much. When I was in Doha, meeting some heads of state, I was getting calls from Europe, America, and Nigeria, congratulating us on the success of the elections.

“The opposition has created the impression outside the country that we are going into a mess because we have incompetent leadership of the party. They were overwhelmed that the election came and went and both at the center and at the states, fantastic," he said.

He further said, “How can ten sitting governors of states lose their constituencies, this has been unprecedented. So I congratulate you the national working committee (of the APC) and others here, that we have really proved that democracy is worth defending.

“Nigerians have understood it now, otherwise how can they vote against their sitting governors stopping them from going to the senate to rest?

"So they were really overwhelmed and I congratulate our political development. Please congratulate your constituencies, it means that even though you have excess money, they will collect and put it in their pockets but they will elect the person they trust from any constituency, either House of Assembly, House of Representatives, or Senate until it comes to the president itself.

“Because it was so transparent, everything was done there in front of everybody. And committee by committee from various constituencies lined up and picked the candidate they want. So really, we have virtually politically arrived. I congratulate our party.

“Today, we prayed together with Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) and I congratulated him and I said I am eager to go to the other side of Nigeria. I wish him the best of luck. I said his Vice President is experienced, a two-time governor in his state, and then the senate. And this is how we got the chairman of our party, two-time governor in his state and also he has been in the Senate.

“So they are people are really from the bottom of the system to the top. When you get experienced people to be in charge, taking important decisions, they will always reflect on their experiences and they can hardly go wrong. So I congratulate you and our party.

“I thank you very much for this major surprise, I think now when I go back I will have time to read some books not just about myself but about other issues. I assure you, I have been counting the days, I am looking forward to Monday very desperately. I will use the weekend to sign some of the papers so that from Eagles Square, I will fly to Kaduna and eventually go to Daura. Thank you very much,” he added. (Vanguard)

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