2015 Polls: I Was Afraid Of Failing, But APC Reassured Me – Buhari

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that were it not for the cohesion and determination of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he would not have contested in the 2015 polls in which he emerged victorious.

The president was addressing a cross section of party leaders who were at the State House, Abuja to break the Ramadan fast with him Tuesday evening.

He said: “I always like to go down memory lane to show how lucky we are as a political group.

“At no stage was the decision taken by chance, it was all deliberate. The leaders of the parties felt the only way to wrest power from the PDP was for us to come together. I in particular was scared after previous failures of the elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011.

“We dissolved our various parties to form APC then we applied to INEC; for once, I was grateful to INEC. We had gone with nine people to INEC to apply and INEC advised us that we needed at least 25 people across the country to form a political party. We were able to go back and raise 35 members across the country and then successfully registered the party. INEC then informed the federal government that we have met the requirements hence we cannot be denied registration. Many doubting Thomases said merger has never succeeded in Nigeria but here we are.

“I went into this long explanation so that you will appreciate how far we have come and for a society as ours, if we respect the constitution, then all the greed and problems will be a thing of the past.

The President urged Nigerians to assist his administration in fighting corruption, stressing that “If you don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

‎He also called on members of the APC to jettison selfish interests and influences by sinking their energy into the realisation of the party’s campaigns manifestos of addressing security, economy, employment and corruption.

Thanking the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for his support and words of encouragement, Buhari said: “We should just look at Nigeria as Nigerians, no matter the level you are, bury your influence so that we can help achieve the manifestos – security, economy, employment and corruption because if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. We have to ensure that people we bring forward are those that will move the society forward.”