My Successor—Buhari

<h4>My Successor in 2023<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that President Muhammadu Buhari&comma; in a meeting with the ruling All Progressives governors today requested for a special privilege to choose his successor&period; He argued that state governors who have exhausted their statutory 2nd terms in office had unrestricted opportunities to anoint their respective successor&period; He therefore requested that such opportunity should be extended to him even as he stated that consultations to ensurerancour free primary continue&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;His speech is presented below<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>As I begin the final year of my second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and leader of the Party&comma; I recognize the compelling need for me to provide stronger leadership to the Party under this transition process and to ensure that it happens in an orderly manner&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>Such leadership is required so that the Party remains strong and united&period; It is also needed to improve our electoral fortunes by ensuring that it retains power at the center&comma; hold the great majority in various legislative chambers and also gain additional number of states at state levels&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>In pursuit of the foregoing objectives&comma; the Party has successfully established internal policies that promote continuity and smooth succession plans even at the state and local government levels&period; For example&comma; first term <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">Governors<&sol;a> who have served credibly well have been encouraged to stand for re-election&period; Similarly&comma; second term Governors have been accorded the privilege of promoting successors that are capable of driving their visions as well as the ideals of the party&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>In a few days&comma; the Party will be holding its Convention during which primaries would take place to pick the Presidential Flag Bearer for the 2023 General Elections&period; This is a very significant process and its outcome should prove to the world&comma; the positive quality of the APC regarding democratic principles&comma; culture as well as leadership&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>As we approach the Convention&comma; I appeal to all of you to allow our interests to converge&comma; our focus to remain on the changing dynamics of our environment&comma; the expectations of our citizens and the global community&period; Our objective must be the victory of our party and our choice of candidate must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>In keeping with the established internal policies of the Party and as we approach the Convention in a few days&comma; therefore&comma; I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the Governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor&comma; who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><em>I wish to assure you that the consultation process shall continue to ensure that all aspirants and stakeholders would be brought on board right through to the convention&period; This would also ensure that any anxiety occasioned by different factors are effectively brought under control and that our party emerges stronger&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;