I am not going to do anything to Jonathan~buhari

Buhari has assured President Goodluck Jonathan that he has nothing to fear.
Buhari, in his acceptance speech after being declared the winner of
Saturday's presidential election and presented with certificate of
return in Abuja on Wednesday, said "despite the rancour of the
elections," he harboured no grudge against anyone.
He extended "a hand of friendship and conciliation to President
Jonathan and his team."
The APC presidential candidate read a prepared speech in which he
also reiterated his determination to end insurgency in the North-East,
rescue the economy and stem corruption which he described as an evil
worse than terrorism.
Buhari, who was Head of State between 1983 and 1985, said even though
there could be a disagreement between him and Jonathan over
governance, the President remained a great Nigerian.
Buhari said, "Let me state clearly that President Jonathan has nothing
to fear from me. Although we may not agree on the methods of governing
the nation, he is a great Nigerian and still our president. He
deserves our support and permanent respect by virtue of the office he
has held.
"This is how an honourable nation treats its servants and conducts its
affairs. I should be looking forward to meeting with President
Jonathan in the days to come to discuss how our teams can make the
transition of administrations as efficient as possible."
On terrorism, he said, "No doubt, this nation has suffered greatly in
the recent past, and its staying power has been tested to its limits
by crises, chief among which is insurgency of the Boko Haram.
"There is no doubt that in tackling the insurgency, we have a tough
and urgent job to do.
"But I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our
collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror, and bring
back peace and normalcy to all the affected areas. We shall spare no
effort until we defeat terrorism."
Reiterating his readiness to fight corruption which, according to
him, constitutes a threat to "our economic development and democratic
survival," he said, "no longer shall it( graft) be allowed to stand as
if it is a respected monument in this nation."
He added, "We shall strongly battle another form of evil that is even
worse than terrorism—the evil of corruption. Corruption attacks and
seeks to destroy our national institutions and character.
"By misdirecting into selfish hands funds intended for the public
purpose, corruption distorts the economy and worsens income
inequality. It creates a class of unjustly-enriched people.
"Such an illegal yet powerful force soon comes to undermine democracy
because its conspirators have amassed so much money that they believe
they can buy government.
"We shall end this threat to our economic development and democratic
survival. I repeat that corruption will not be tolerated by this
administration."
Appealing to Nigerians to join him in " resolving these and the other
challenges we face," he stated that "along the way, there will be
victories but there may also be setbacks."
He added, "Mistakes will be made. But we shall never take you for
granted; so, rest assured that our errors will be those of compassion
and commitment not of wilful neglect and indifference.
"We shall correct that which does not work and improve that which
does. We shall not stop, stand or idle."
Buhari also said that his declaration as President-elect meant that
the change many Nigerians had been yearning for had finally come.
"Today, history has been made and change has finally come. Your votes
have changed our national destiny for the good of all Nigerians,'' he
said in the speech titled, ''The die is cast.''
Noting that the challenges ahead were many, the President-elect said,
"We shall, if necessary crawl, walk and run to do the job you have
elected us to do."
He promised to deliver good governance and ensure that his
administration did not rule Nigerians "as if they were subservient to
government."
Buhari also pledged that his government would respect the rule of law
as nobody should be above the law.
The former military ruler said that he would treat those who voted
against him and those who did not vote equally as those who voted for
him on Saturday.
He said, "I pledge myself and our in-coming administration to just and
principled governance.There shall be no bias against or favouritism
for any Nigerian based on ethnicity, religion, gender or social
status.
"I pledge myself and the government to the rule of law, in which none
shall be so above the law that they are not subject to its dictates,
and none shall be so below it that they are not availed of its
protection.
"You shall be able to go to bed knowing that you are safe and that
your constitutional rights remain in safe hands. You shall be able to
voice your opinion without fear of reprisal or victimisation.
"My love and concern for this nation and what I desire for it extends
to all, even to those who do not like us or our politics. You are all
my people and I shall treat everyone of you as my own.
" I shall work for those who voted for me as well as those who voted
against me and even for those who did not vote at all. We all live
under one name as one nation: we are all Nigerians."
Buhari, who had previously contested three times said he had always
enjoyed the support of Nigerians but their votes were only allowed to
count last Saturday.
He said, "We will govern for you and in your interests. Your vote was
not wasted. This is not the first time Nigerians have cast their votes
for us, and this is not the first time they have been counted; but
this is the first time that the votes have been allowed to count. With
the help of God, we pledge to do our utmost to bring forth the Nigeria
you seek."
On his eligibility for the presidential election, he said he would
never have sought to contest if he had adjudged himself incapable.
While he condoled with the families that lost their loved ones in
the celebration that followed his victory on Tuesday, he also thanked
Nigerians for reposing confidence in him.
He said, "Most of all, I thank the people of Nigeria for reposing
their confidence in me at this trying moment. Our nation wrestles many
challenges including insecurity, corruption, economic decline. I
pledge to give you my best in tackling these problems.
"The good people of Nigeria, your obligation does not end with casting
your ballot. I seek your voice and input as we tackle these problems.
This will not be a government democratic only in form. It will be a
government democratic in substance and in how it interacts with its
own people."
He also thanked his party, the All Progressives Congress, INEC, past
leaders of the nation, world leaders, civil society organistations for
their roles in successful conduct of the elections.
Buhari said, "Here, I want to thank my party for selecting me as its
candidate. I thank our party leaders and members for the steadfast
contributions they made to bring our dream to fruition. I thank INEC,
the police and all other government agencies for performing their
tasks in a proper manner and for refusing to be induced to undermine
the election and the democratic process.
"I also wish to thank religious leaders, traditional leaders, the
media, labour unions, civil society organisations, organised private
sector, youths and students for their roles in this election.
"I give special thanks to President Obama and his timely intervention
and support for peaceful and credible elections in Nigeria and for
sending Secretary of State John Kerry and other United States
officials. The European Union – especially the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and other nations that were actively involved in ensuring the
success of this election are equally appreciated. My sincere thanks to
the United Nations Secretary General Mr Ban-Ki moon. The Commonwealth,
China, India and other Asian and Gulf states are also hereby
appreciated.
"Finally our brothers in the African Union and ECOWAS have truly and
clearly shown and demonstrated their commitment to our democratisation
process. Former Presidents John Kuffour, Amos Sawyer, Bakili Muluzi
and his team are well appreciated. I must also add my appreciation for
the role played by civil societies, national and international
observers, other world leaders in ensuring that Nigeria holds free and
fair elections.
"I assure all foreign governments that Nigeria will become a more
forceful and constructive player in the global fight against terrorism
and in other matters of collective concern, such as the fight against
drugs, climate change, financial fraud, communicable diseases and
other issues requiring global response. I want to assure our fellow
African nations that Nigeria will now stand as a more constructive
partner in advancing the matters of concern to our continent,
particularly with regard to economic development and eradication of
poverty.
"Former heads of state and presidents, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
Chief Ernest Shonekan and Gen.Abdulsalami Abubakar, deserve
commendations for their statesmanship and words of caution and counsel
for peace during the tense moments of this electoral period."
Earlier, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in his capacity as the Chief
Returning Officer for the presidential election, had declared Buhari
the winner of the poll at 2.50am and 3am on Wednesday.
Buhari polled 15,424,921 votes to beat Jonathan, who received
12,853,162 votes in the election in which 12 other candidates
participated.
Buhari won in 21 states and received 25 per cent of the total votes
cast in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Jonathan, who won in 15 states and the FCT and received 25 per cent of
the votes in 25 states of the federation and the FCT.
Jega, who revealed that over 700,000 ad hoc staff were deployed for
the March 28 and forthcoming April 11 polls, said there was the need
to keep reforming and improving the nation's electoral process.
He thereafter presented certificates of return to Buhari and
Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and commended Nigerians for
supporting INEC in the conduct of the polls.
I'm not surprised I won– Buhari
On Wednesday evening, Buhari told Cable News Network'sanchor,
Christiane Amanpour, that he was not surprised that he defeated
Jonathan at the polls.
He explained that the successful merger of the APC in 2013 signalled
the beginning of the end of Jonathan's administration.
The President-elect said, "I am not surprised because of how we came
into the merger. The main opposition parties in Nigeria decided to
come together to face the ruling party. That means we had an
additional spread and politicians across the length and breadth of the
country so I was not surprised."
Buhari said immediately after his inauguration on May 29, he would
begin a process of national reconciliation, especially in the
violence-prone areas of the Niger-Delta and the North-East.
He said, "The actual division that is worth bothering about in terms
of social instability and insecurity are in the North-East and the in
the Niger-Delta which I think have been with this country long enough
that we know how they started and what stage they are in now and we
are confident that we will rapidly give attention to the insecurity in
the country and I believe that we will deal with them within a few
months in office."
The former Head of State said the issue of insecurity would have been
curbed long ago if the Jonathan administration had formed a regional
alliance with Cameroon, Chad and Niger four years ago.
He said he would increase the tempo of the war against insurgency
which, according to him, the President started getting right in
January this year.
Buhari said, "If you recall, the Nigerian soldiers, out of all ethical
expectations were giving interviews to foreign journalists that they
were being sent to face the terrorists and were not doing well because
of the lack of weapons, poor training and leadership.
"And the National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing by finding
out how much was approved by the National Assembly for budgetary
allocation for weapons and training in the last four years and they
wanted to invite the service chiefs and the chief of defence staff but
the administration scuttled the hearing so the performance of the
military is being affected by corruption in the system."
Descibing himself as a converted democrat, he denied engaging in
extrajudicial killings during his military administration.
When asked how he would cushion the effect of the drop in global oil
price, the president-elect said he would revive the agricultural and
mining sectors and block all holes through which public funds are
siphoned.
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