2019 presidency: Buhari speaks on why he’s running for second term

President Muhammadu Buhari has opened up on the reasons he is contesting for the 2019 presidency.

The President said his bid to return for another four yesrs was the desire of the national executive of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Buhari spoke during a live presidential town hall at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, on Wednesday evening alongside Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

Buhari pointed out that his decision to seek re-election was aimed at fulfilling the manifesto in his 2015 campaign.

He said, “I said it much earlier at the National Executive Committee of our party that if my party recommended me to its executive, I would contest.

“I did that to save time and wide discussions among members of the party.

“So, those who felt very strongly about it left the party and the party nominated. Why? It is because I felt that the three fundamental objectives we campaigned in 2015 are still relevant.

“We want to remind Nigerians to see when we started — 2015 — where we are now, what we have been able to do in between this time of three and a half years with the resources and time available to us.”

On his part, Osinbajo, said, “We campaigned on three fundamental issues, namely the economy, the fight against corruption and security.

“In those three respects, we believe that we have laid very strong foundations and I very strongly believe that we are on to much more progress if given a second opportunity.

“I very strongly take the view that the period of three and a half years, in particular, has been one where we have managed to turn around a lot of what was inherited in the previous 16 years.

“The previous 16 years were, in my view, a period during which a lot of revenue came in and very little appeared to have been done. We believe the foundations we’ve laid in agriculture and infrastructure really deserve a second term.