Acceptance Statement by Gen. Buhari, President-Elect of Nigeria
I am immensely grateful to God for this day and for this hour. I feel truly honoured and humbled that the Nigerian people have so clearly chosen me to lead them. The official announcement from INEC was the moment the vast majority of Nigerians had hoped and been waiting for. Today, history has been made, and change has finally come. Your votes have changed our national destiny for the good of all Nigerians.
INEC has announced that I, Muhammadu Buhari, shall be your next president. My team and I shall faithfully serve you. There shall no longer be a ruling party again: APC will be your governing party. We shall faithfully serve you. We shall never rule over the people as if they were subservient to government.
Our long night has passed and thedaylight of new democratic governancehas broken across the land. This thereforeis not a victory for one man or even oneparty. It is a victory for Nigeria and forall Nigerians. Millions of you haveworked for this day. So many haverisked life and livelihood; and others havedied that we may witness this moment.
And it is with a very heavy heart that Ireport many deaths and injuries amidst thejubilations yesterday. We send our sincerecondolences to the families and friends ofthose who lost their lives; and wish speedyrecovery to those who suffered injuries. Iappeal to all our supporters to celebratethis victory with prayers and reflectioninstead of wild jubilation.
May the souls of those who died rest inpeace. Let us take a moment of silence tohonour all of those whose sacrifices havebrought us to this fine and historic hour. Asthe results of the election have shown,their labor has not been and will never bein vain. Democracy and the rule of law willbe re-established in the land.
Let us put the past, especially therecent past, behind us. We must forgetour old battles and past grievances—andlearn to forge ahead. I assure you that ourgovernment is one that will listen to andembrace all.
I pledge myself and our in-comingadministration to just and principled governance. There shall be no biasagainst or favouritism for any Nigerianbased on ethnicity, religion, region, genderor social status. I pledge myself and thegovernment to the rule of law, in whichnone shall be so above the law that theyare not subject to its dictates, and noneshall be so below it that they are not availed of its protection.
You shall be able to go to bed knowing thatyou are safe and that your constitutionalrights remain in safe hands. You shall beable to voice your opinion without fear ofreprisal or victimisation. My love andconcern for this nation and what I desirefor it extends to all, even to those who donot like us or our politics. You are all mypeople and I shall treat everyone of youas my own. I shall work for those whovoted for me as well as those who votedagainst me and even for those who did notvote at all. We all live under one name asone nation: we are all Nigerians.
Some unfortunate issues about myeligibility have been raised during thecampaign. I wish to state that throughdevotion to this nation, everything I have learned and done has been to enable me to make the best possible contribution topublic life. If I had judged myself incapable of governing I would never havesought to impose myself on it. I have servedin various capacities and have always put inmy best.
But despite the rancour of the elections, Iextend a hand of friendship andconciliation to President Jonathan and histeam. I hereby wish to state that I harbourno ill will against anyone.
Let me state clearly that PresidentJonathan has nothing to fear from me.Although we may not agree on themethods of governing the nation, he is agreat Nigerian and still our president. Hedeserves our support and permanentrespect by virtue of the office he hasheld. This is how an honourable nationtreats its servants and conducts itsaffairs; and this is how Nigeria should be.
I look forward to meeting with PresidentJonathan in the days to come to discusshow our teams can make the transition ofadministrations as efficient as possible.
Here, I want to thank my party forselecting me as its candidate. I thank ourparty leaders and members for thesteadfast contributions they made to bringour dream to fruition. I thank INEC, thepolice and all other government agenciesfor performing their tasks in a proper manner and for refusing to be induced toundermine the election and the democraticprocess.
I also wish to thank religious Leaders,traditional leaders, the media, laborunions, Civil Society organisations,organised private sector, youths andstudents for their roles in this election.
I give special thanks to President Obamaand his timely intervention and supportfor peaceful and credible elections inNigeria and for sending Secretary JohnKerry and other United States officials.The European Union - especially the UnitedKingdom, France, Germany and othernations that were actively involved inensuring the success of this election areequally appreciated. My sincere thanks tothe United Nations Secretary General MrBan-Ki Moon. The Commonwealth, China,India and other Asian and Gulf statesare also hereby appreciated. Finally ourbrothers in the African Union and ECOWAShave truly and clearly shown anddemonstrate their commitment toour democratisation process. FormerPresidents John Kuffour, Amos Sawyer,Bakili Muluzi and his team are wellappreciated. I must also add myappreciation for the role played by civilsocieties, national and Internationalobservers, other world leaders in ensuringthat Nigeria holds free and fair elections.
I assure all foreign governments thatNigeria will become a more forceful andconstructive player in the global fightagainst terrorism and in other matters ofcollective concern, such as the fightagainst drugs, climate change, financialfraud, communicable diseases and otherissues requiring global response. I wantto assure our fellow African nations thatNigeria will now stand as a moreconstructive partner in advancing thematters of concern to our continent, particularly with regard to economicdevelopment and eradication of poverty.
Former head of state and president ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo, General YakubuGowon, Alh. Shehu Shagari, GeneralIbrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekanand General Abdulsalami Abubakardeserve commendations for theirstatesmanship and words of caution andcounsel for peace during the tensemoments of this electoral period.
Most of all, I thank the people of Nigeria forreposing their confidence in me at thistrying moment. Our nation wrestles manychallenges including insecurity, corruption,economic decline. I pledge to give you mybest in tackling these problems.
The good people of Nigeria, yourobligation does not end with casting yourballot. I seek your voice and input as wetackle these problems. This will not be agovernment democratic only in form. Itwill be a government democratic insubstance and in how it interacts with its own people.
No doubt, this nation has suffered greatlyin the recent past, and its staying powerhas been tested to its limits by crises,chief among which is insurgency of theBoko Haram. There is no doubt that in tackling the insurgency we have a toughand urgent job to do. But I assure youthat Boko Haram will soon know thestrength of our collective will andcommitment to rid this nation of terror,and bring back peace and normalcy to allthe affected areas. We shall spare noeffort until we defeat terrorism.
Furthermore, we shall strongly battleanother form of evil that is even worsethan terrorism—the evil of corruption.Corruption attacks and seeks to destroyour national institutions and character.By misdirecting into selfish hands fundsintended for the public purpose, corruptiondistorts the economy and worsensincome inequality. It creates a class ofunjustly-enriched people.
Such an illegal yet powerful force sooncomes to undermine democracy because itsconspirators have amassed so much moneythat they believe they can buygovernment. We shall end this threat toour economic development anddemocratic survival. I repeat thatcorruption will not be tolerated by thisadministration; and it shall no longer beallowed to stand as if it is a respectedmonument in this nation.
I ask you to join me in resolving theseand the other challenges we face. Alongthe way, there will be victories butthere may also be setbacks. Mistakeswill be made. But we shall never takeyou for granted; so, be rest assuredthat our errors will be those ofcompassion and commitment not of wilfulneglect and indifference.
We shall correct that which does notwork and improve that which does. Weshall not stop, stand or idle. We shall, ifnecessary crawl, walk and run to do the job you have elected us to do.
I realise that the expectation of ourpeople today is as high as their commitment to change has been strongand their belief in us unshaken. While wepledge to begin doing our best withoutdelay, we would like to appeal to them toappreciate the gravity of our situation, sothat we become more realistic in ourexpectations.
We will govern for you and in yourinterests. Your vote was not wasted. This isnot the first time Nigerians have cast theirvotes for us, and this is not the first timethey have been counted; but this is thefirst time that the votes have beenallowed to count. With the help of God,we pledge to do our utmost to bring forththe Nigeria you seek.
Thank you for your patience and attention.
General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
President-Elect,
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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