By Deborah Hassan
365Daily– President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that he is not going to be involved in choosing a successor when he leaves office in 2023.
He said this on Wednesday, January 5, 2021, during an interview with Chamnels Television at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in response to a question on the 2023 election.
“It is not my business,” he quipped.
He later added that he would like to keep his preferred successor a secret.
On direct primaries, he explained that he opposed it in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill forwarded to him for assent by the National Assembly because of his belief that all options should be deployed for political parties’ primaries and not just one.
While commenting on the 2022 budget which he recently signed into law despite strong reservations, he expressed confidence in the leaders of both chambers who he described as competent.
Buhari also touched on other topical national issues, among which is the appeal by South East elders to him to move for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in DSS detention.
He said he would not interfere in the work of the Judiciary and would want to see Kanu stand trial for unguarded statements made against the interest of the country.
However, the President added that a political arrangement for his release is possible.
Going further, he defended the decision of the Federal Government to maintain a high debt profile, saying it would be unwise to reject the loans that will finance infrastructure development across the country.
On power, President Buhari faulted the performance of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs), blaming them for his government’s failure to meet with its target on power delivery.
He explained that the owners of the DISCOS were given the companies as ‘political settlement’ and not because they were competent to run them.
President Buhari concluded the interview by describing the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a “failure”.