President Muhammadu Buhari says he is fulfilled that he is leaving Nigeria better than he met it eight years ago, when he assumed office.
The President bared his mind on Sunday, in a farewell broadcast to citizens as he exits office on May 29.
He used the opportunity to appreciate Nigerians for their support to him while in office.
President Buhari, who said he was fulfilled having braced the tape at the end of his eight year tenure as leader of Nigeria, thanked citizens for trusting him with their mandate.
He said the country has moved forward from where he met it when he assumed office in 2015.
“I address you today, in my last assignment as a democratically elected President of our great and well-endowed nation, with a deep sense of gratitude to God, a great deal of appreciation to the Nigerian people and a modest sense of fulfilment.
“As I retire home to Daura, Katsina State, I feel fulfilled that we have started the Nigeria re-birth by taking the initial critical steps and I am convinced, the in-coming administration will quicken the pace of this walk to see a Nigeria that fulfils its destiny to be a great nation.
“I am confident that I am leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015,” he said.
The President said the 2023 general election was a proof that the country’s democracy was growing thus, Nigerians must build on the gains of democratic rule.
He said: “Today, we mark and celebrate another peaceful transition of power from one elected government to another in our steady march to improve and sustain Nigeria’s democracy.
“This year we witnessed the most keenly contested presidential election since the first Republic and this demonstrates that our democracy is getting better and more entrenched with each election.
“We must as a nation improve and sustain the gains we make in the electoral process, on an incremental basis for Nigeria to take its rightful place among nations.”
President Buhari praised those who lost at the polls for towing the line of peace by seeking redress in court, as he congratulated the winner of the election and urged him to take the country to greater heights.
“Our Democracy provides for, allows and encourages seeking redress for perceived injustices, enabling candidates and political parties that did not agree with the results to go to court.
“I salute the doggedness and resilience of all the presidential candidates and their political parties for believing in our judicial system by taking their grievances with the election results to court. Irrespective of the outcome of the various cases, I urge all parties involved to accept the decision of our courts and join hands to build a better Nigeria.
“To my brother, friend and fellow worker in the political terrain for the past 10 years, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu , I congratulate you on the realization of a dream, which was propelled by a burning passion to put Nigeria amongst the leading nations of the world.
“You have indeed worked for this day and God has crowned your efforts. I have no doubt that your passion for excellence, reliance on competence, fairness in relationships, commitment to equity, loyalty to the country and desire for Nigeria to be globally relevant would come through for you, under God’s guidance, as you lead our country to levels that I am leaving,” he said.
While recounting his achievements, President Buhari said the economy has been revamped, women and youths have been empowered and the fight against corruption has yielded the desired results.
President Buhari, who had served the nation as military Head of State in 1983, had assumed office as democratically elected President on May 29 2015, after defeating a sitting President and Nigerians renewed his mandate four years later in 2019 but he now bows out, after completing his 2nd tenure, in line with the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
