Buhari sets stage for re-election bid
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday made his final Independence Day address to the nation before elections in 2019, effectively setting out his government’s manifesto as he seeks a second term.
The 75-year-old former military ruler is the only candidate in the running for the presidential ticket of his governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
The APC national convention is expected to endorse him this weekend at the same time as the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party picks its challenger.
October 1, a public holiday in Nigeria that commemorates the day in 1960 when it won independence from Britain, traditionally sees presidents take stock. But with candidates and parties jockeying for position at primaries, the head of state’s message has added significance.
Buhari came to power in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram insurgents, take tougher action on corruption and improve the economy.
He vowed to “work tirelessly to promote, protect and preserve ... a united, peaceful, prosperous and secure Nigeria”.
He has previously said the jihadists, whose campaign of violence has left more than 27,000 dead since 2009, were “technically defeated”.
In the latest attacks nine people were killed in raids on two villages in the Konduga area of northeastern Borno state on September 19. There have also been at least eight attempts to overrun military bases.
On Monday he said only that there had been “a steady improvement in the security situation” and the government was “committed to ending the crisis”.
Over the past year the security services have equally been stretched by renewed violence in a long-running resource conflict between farmers and nomadic herders.
Parliament at one point even issued Buhari with a veiled threat of impeachment for failing to protect lives and property.
Buhari said he was seeking a “durable solution” to the pastoralist conflict, in which 1,300 people have been killed in the first half of this year. It is seen as having the potential to disrupt the election.