Buhari won’t pick successor, says Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari will not handpick a successor at the end of his tenure, the Presidency has assured.

The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity President, Femi Adesina, gave the assurance on Monday evening while responding to issues on the Channels Television programme, Politics Today.

He also said that the President is not compelled by law to make public his assets for second term.

It was Adesina’s reaction to Latter Rain Assembly’s Serving Overseer Pastor Tunde Bakare’s counsel that the President should be involved in choosing his successor and a demand by Socio-Economic Right and Accountability Project (SERAP) that  President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the 36 governors make public their assets’ declaration within seven days.

The President spokesman said no portion of the Constitution states that public office holders should publicise their assets declaration as being demanded by the Non-Government Organisation.

On Pastor Bakare’s advice, Adesina said the President will ensure not to leave the office for looters, but he will not take steps that will circumvent the electoral process.

He said although the President will be very interested in who succeeds him, he will not bend rules or manipulate the electoral process, saying “we know him, he is not somebody like that.

“The president will not pick a successor. 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 hand pick a successor? No, he will not do that.”

On if President Buhari was listening to the advice by his friend, Pastor Bakare, Adesina said:  “The President will ensure that Nigeria is in safe hands. There is no point having worked, having made gains, having made advances since 2015-2023, to hand Nigeria over to those who will take her back or hand Nigeria over to looters once again or you allow looters to allow stolen funds to work for them to seize power. No, that will not happen.

“The President will be interested that much in who succeeds him but he is not going to impose anybody. Rather, he is going to create a free and fair process and Nigerians are then going to determine who the next president should be.”

On the SERAP ultimatum, Adesina insisted that the decision to make the assets public is a matter of voluntary will and not a compulsion.

He said: “The President will do what the law requires of him and I can say for a fact that the President has declared his assets.\

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“Declaring that publicly is not in our law but voluntary therefore he cannot be compelled to do so.

The FoI Act, however, establishes the right of anyone to request information in the custody of any public official, agency or institution, with the exception of security files which are not of public concern.”

Asked if the President will oblige if the FoI Act was invoked, Adesina affirmed that making the President’s assets public will be based on the discretion of the Code of Conduct Bureau.

He said: “If FoI Act is invoked, it will be left with the Code of Conduct Bureau to release such information. The President has declared and already deposited the documents to them. So, it’s left to them to make such a decision.”