Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu and vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima have visited President Muhammadu Buhari in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State.
KanyiDaily recalls that Tinubu and Shettima received their certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
On Wednesday night, the duo and the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, presented the documents to Buhari in Daura.
Buhari, according to a statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, said Nigerians voted for Tinubu due to high level of development being carried out by the present administration.
The president said he was pleased that the people chose the APC and its candidates, affirming through this, their desire that the momentum of development under the administration continues.
He commended the APC supporters and the Presidential Campaign Council for the “historic win,” which he said would never have been possible without discipline, commitment and hard work.
Speaking with newsmen after the visit, Tinubu said the puropose of his visit to Buhari was to appreciate him as well as to present him with the Certificate of Return from INEC.
His words: “I came to present the certificate of return to him (Buhari) as the party leader and commend his efforts in supporting democracy in Africa, this is the largest democracy in Africa and he couldn’t have done any better, we are lucky there is no incident, there is no accident, and no matter how provocative a defeat is, we still have to tolerate it because we are democrats and we are trying to build a nation.
On the take away from his visit to Buhari in Daura, the President-elect said “well the calmness and commitment and the fact that after voting he taught us again dedication to our party by displaying his ballot papers, loyalty to the party and being ready to create a future for all of us and no matter how tempting the problem of democracy is, he is following the process, building a successor and ready to hand over peacefully, you know in Africa its a big deal you know.”
He also disclosed that he had received many congratulatory messages from world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to him: “Oh very many of that, infact as far as Europe, the stock market reacted positively well, there was a goodwill message from Macron the President of France”.
The president-elect and his deputy were accompanied to Daura by the Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the founding chairman, Chief Bisi Akande as well as the Governors of Katsina, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Lagos and Jigawa.
Other were the Governors of Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Ogun and the former Governors of Borno, Ali Modu Sheriff and that of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari.
There were also Ministers of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare and Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Also on the entourage were Alhaji Kashim Imam, Wale Tinubu, the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Mannir Yakubu and the Speaker of the Parliament of Kaduna state Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani.