President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians to embrace the new year with the hope to move the nation forward towards unity, progress and prosperity as he said that he has done his best tor the country.
This was contained in his new year message released on Saturday where he expressed his warm felicitations to Nigeria for the turn of the new year.
In what he regarded as his last new year message as the nation’s president, Buhari charged whoever would succeed him to ensure Nigeria becomes one of the world’s leading nations by the end of the century.
The President, who said this in his New Year message to the nation, said attempts by politicians to disrupt 2023 polls must be resisted.
He said: “As we welcome the New Year, let us look with hope to 2023, a year to move forward as a nation towards unity, progress and prosperity. I offer my felicitations, mindful of the various opinions and interpretations of our executive legacies.
“I welcome and accept both the accolades and criticisms in equal measure secure in the conviction that I did my best to serve our dear country Nigeria and I pray that the next President will also pick up the baton and continue the race to make Nigeria one of the leading countries of the world by the end of this century. This message is in essence valedictory.
“After having the honour of serving you, my compatriots, for the last seven-plus years, my tenure as your President in the most revered tradition of our ongoing and maturing democracy must necessarily come to an end.
“These electoral and democratic principles are working in concert because of the transcendent beliefs, beyond partisan politics, of you the great citizen of Nigeria.
“The collective electoral will and votes of Nigerians will be fulfilled, even in the twilight moments of my watch.”
“As we celebrate our wins and review obstacles, we all must understand that governance is a continuum, which still places a transitional responsibility on this administration to provide for the incoming government a non-partisan and objective roadmap for 2023.
“We as Nigeria; one country united under the will of God and actively growing as an indivisible entity, have been enabled year after year, decade after decade, to weather all stormy waters and emerge stronger and better where others have fallen and disintegrated. This has made us a unique nation across the globe and our continent.
“This administration’s landmark Amended Electoral Act will ensure that we have free and fair elections across the nation. We as Nigerians must also take responsibility to ensure we participate in ensuring that the 2023 elections are free and fair by not engaging in anti-state activities and other nefarious acts that may affect the run of the polls.”
