Femi Adesina, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, says his principal will not handpick his successor in 2023.
Speaking at a programme on Channels Television on Monday, Adesina said Buhari is interested in who succeeds him, but will not manipulate the process to favour anyone.
The presidential spokesperson was reacting to a statement by Tunde Bakare, serving overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly (LRA), who urged the president to be involved in the choice of his successor in order not destroy his legacies.
“By May 2023 God willing he would have finished his second term as president, he would not have stood for another term and he will be exiting. So, he has that at the back of his mind,” Adesina said.
“Pastor Bakare said he should be interested in who succeeds him, yes I’m sure the president will be interested in who succeeds him but he will not manipulate the process, to pick a successor.
“The president will not pick a successor. We know him, he is not somebody like that. Will he be interested in the process? Yes, he will. He will ensure that there is a free, fair and credible election; that nobody will come to use money and resources to bamboozle his way into the leadership of the country. It will not happen. The president will ensure free, fair and credible process; but to handpick a successor? No, he will not do that.”
Adesina said Buhari will not hand “Nigeria over to those who will take her back or hand Nigeria over to looters once again.
“One thing that is clear is that the president will do whatever is needful before the next set of general elections. Early enough is relative but the president will do whatever is needful,”he said.