President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday the received All Progressives
Congress (APC) forms to contest the presidential primaries of the party.
He thanked those who purchased the forms and assured of his commitment to the Change agenda.
Buhari urged other groups who have offered to buy him nomination form
to redirect their contributions to the Not Too Young To Run wing of the
APC.
His full speed below:
“As I look around this room today, I am pleased to see many familiar
faces as well as new ones. All united by a common vision of having a
united, prosperous and secured Nigeria.“As a movement, our political journey started as far back as 2002. At
that time, the country was still recovering from military rule.
Although the country was united to protect its democracy, majority of
Nigerians felt the then democratically elected government did not focus
on addressing the challenges of the average citizen.“I recall some of you in this room visiting me in Kaduna and
demanding that I come out of my second retirement to participate in
politics. At that time, we felt our young democracy, and indeed our
country, was heading in the wrong direction. Our resources were being
wasted. The future of our children and their children was at risk.“I was a bit reluctant to be honest. You all remember my first
retirement in 1985 started in a small bungalow in Benin City. After
which I relocated to Kaduna to a slightly bigger house where I mostly
stayed until 1994.“In 1994, I was asked by a Head of State to come out of retirement
and serve my country as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund
popularly known as the PTF. I was at the PTF until 1999 when I was asked
to proceed on my second retirement.“Both retirements had one thing in common; the organisation I was
heading was abruptly disbanded and my family life significantly
disrupted. So naturally in 2002, I was reluctant to come out of this
second retirement which I was enjoying in Kaduna with my family.“However, the argument put forward then was very compelling. The
selfish-interest of our elected leaders superseded national interest.
This needed to be changed. This change must be through democratic
process as prescribed by our constitution. So we went to work. We
campaigned hard and formed a credible opposition.“Nigerians voted, but when the results came out, we had lost by close to 12 million votes. The statistics did not add up.
“We fought in the courts for over 2 years. Finally, the Supreme Court
ruling was not in our favour. We accepted the results and I went back
to Kaduna with the hope that we had seen the worst, and like all of us
in this room continued to pray for better days ahead.“In 2006, many associates including some of you once again convened
in Kaduna. This time, it was clear for all to see. The country was
getting worst. The system remained engineered to favour the voted at the
expense of the voter.“We came out once again with our simple mission to CHANGE things,
since it was our desire that the dividends of democracy must be felt by
all and not just a handful.“When the 2007 election results came out, we were told we lost by
over 18 million votes. The election was a national disgrace. The
international observers called it “charade”, “flawed” and
“illegitimate”. Even the declared winners were embarrassed by the
results.“Again, we decided to do the right thing. We went to court. And like
in 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the results. This time, Nigerians were
not deprived of their basic rights; it was actually stolen from them
right in front of their eyes in broad daylight.“During the 2011 elections, things got a bit better compared to 2007.
We only lost by 10 million votes, according to the electoral
commission.“However, by this time, many Nigerians had lost hope. Our country was
deteriorating at a very fast pace. The gap between the wealthy,
rent-seeking ruling class and the rest of the country was widening
astronomically.“By 2014, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the
largest economy by Gross Domestic Product could not feed itself or
protect itself. It got to a state where government was borrowing to pay
salaries although they had record breaking oil revenues.“As our country moved backwards, the world continued to push ahead.
“Whether it was by design or through divine intervention, the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) was introduced for the 2015 elections.
“The PVC became the saviour of Nigerians. This meant every Nigerian
had an equal voice in elections and it brought an end to the impunity of
the past.“Finally, the people’s voice could be heard and eventually was heard
through the ballot box. Our dream for change, which started in 2002,
became a reality.“We have come a long way in three years.
“On the national security front, we have regained lost territory in
the North East. We are decisively addressing new security challenges
locally while maintaining our regional and international commitments.“On infrastructure development, we are completing old rail and road
projects and starting new ones; we are reviving power projects that were
abandoned for decades; we are developing affordable housing projects
across the country; we have commenced the long overdue repairs and
upgrades of our sea and air ports facilities“On food security, we have supported our farmers to produce. We have
rehabilitated abandoned fertiliser plants. We have seen unprecedented
investments in food processing. All these have led to a decline in food
and other agricultural imports.“Our fight against corruption is also yielding results. The strict
implementation of the Treasury Single Account has stopped leakages in
government activities. Our aggressive anti-corruption campaign has shown
that it is no longer business as usual.“Our social investment programme is: feeding children in schools;
giving micro credit loans to entrepreneurs in the rural economy;
providing jobs for unemployed graduates: providing cash to the most
vulnerable and poorest Nigerians“Our economic recovery and growth plan has created the platform for a
diversified, sustainable and inclusive economy for future generations.“We have also engaged the oil and gas sector to ensure investments
continue in the upstream sector, while at the same time reducing
scarcity and shortages of products in the downstream sector.“Ladies and gentlemen, these achievements over the past three years
have not been easy. Corruption has been fighting back from both within
and outside. But we held our ground.“Today, I am pleased to say the weakest ones amongst us, whose
selfish expectations did not align with our selfless vision, have exited
our party.“We now have a party of strong and patriotic individuals who are
ready, willing and able to continue on this journey of building a
strong, secure, self-sufficient and corruption free Nigeria.“I am honoured today to receive this nomination form which your
members, from all over the country, contributed to buy. It is a gesture
from an association of patriotic Nigerians, which I was made to believe
comprises over three million members that believe in our principle of
bringing the desired positive CHANGE in Nigeria.“Since my protest at the APC secretariat a few weeks back on the very
expensive cost of the presidential nomination form, I have received
many offers from different associations and organisations whose members
were ready to pool their resources to buy me the form.“The 12 million members of the Rice Farmers Association offered to
buy me a form. The members of the Fertiliser Producers Association also
contacted my office with the same offer. Some members of the Independent
Petroleum Marketers Association also offered to buy the nomination
form. I can go on and on.”