I won’t allow use of govt funds for my election – Buhari

ABUJA—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari  yesterday in Abuja vowed that he will not authorise the use of  money from the treasury for his re-election campaign.

Speaking at the close of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, President Buhari directed cabinet ministers to take advantage of technology to reach out to voters on the need to return the All Progressives Congress-led administration in next month’s general elections.

 He said:  “As political parties spread their ideologies and views to every nook and cranny of the country, the issue of cash payment to voters and its corrupting influence in electioneering has once again become a topical issue. “Try and use text and multi-media messages to seek votes for the party and government.

 There is no money from the treasury for use in the campaigns. I will not authorize that,” he said. President Buhari in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, declared that the APC-led administration has a clear development agenda best suited to take Nigeria forward and sustain economic development. He said:  

“This message needs to be taken to all Nigerians but we cannot use money from the treasury to purchase  prospective voters.

 “Nigerians want change and we alone can deliver that change. Our people can no longer be swayed by money politics.” 

The President also used the occasion, which was a valedictory session for the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, to wish the minister success in her electoral contest. The Minister had signified her desire to leave the cabinet, in line with existing regulations, to run for a legislative seat in her native Yobe State.