President Bola Tinubu has said that his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, can no longer go to Niger Republic as planned before leaving office in May 2023.
Tinubu stated this while speaking at a book launch in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the president, Buhari had said he would retire to his hometown, Daura in Katsina State, at the end of his tenure.
Tinubu also said the former president told him that he would escape to Niger Republic if the insecurity in his area deteriorates.
“President Buhari served our country with dedication and uncommon zeal. First as a military officer who offered unblemished service, manning important commands and political positions, and crowning it as military Head of State on 1st January 1984. Second, as a politician who ran four times for the highest office until he was elected President in 2015,” Tinubu said.
“When President Buhari was leaving office, he said he would retire to Daura, far away from Abuja, to enjoy his well-deserved retirement from public service. I remember he added that if his supporters and friends deny him enough rest in Daura, he would run to the Republic of Niger.
“Well, as you all know, he can no longer escape to Niger Republic because of the border closure.”
Tinubu also vowed to stamp out Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers in the country.
Tinubu said his administration will continue where the last administration of President Buhari stopped in the area of tackling insecurity.
The president’s assurances came at a time when there is a hike in insecurity in some parts of the country, in the FCT Abuja.
“President Buhari assumed office at a very difficult period of our national life when the economy was spiralling into recession and Boko Haram had taken over swaths of our territory in North East,” Tinubu said.
“At a point, it appeared even Abuja, the seat of government would fall into the hands of Boko Haram with the bombing of the UN Building, Banex Plaza, Nyanya and other locations within the Federal Capital Territory.
“We cannot easily forget how our armed forces battled the Boko Haram terrorists under the leadership of President Buhari to reclaim our territory and push them to the fringes of Lake Chad where they no longer pose existential threat to our sovereignty.
“I must say the job of securing every inch of our country is yet to be finished. My government will stamp out the remaining vestiges of Boko Haram, Ansaru, banditry and kidnapping gangs. We won’t rest until every agent of darkness is completely rooted out.”
Speaking about the book launch, the president thanked the organisers for puttung the programme together as it afforded him the opportunity to meet with his predecessor for the first time after leaving office.
