2019 elections: Your vote, a call to national duty, says Buhari   

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday,  urged all Nigerians with voter cards to heed the call to national duty by voting in the general elections, which eventually kick off on Saturday with the presidential and National Assembly contests. 

He gave the charge in a national broadcast to the nation.

“I urge you to go out and vote,” President Buhari pleaded in a national broadcast on Friday morning, stressing that by exercising their democratic rights, the eligible voters would be participating in defining the future of the nation.

“Honour your civic duty as voters by going to the polls tomorrow to vote for the government of your choice, for the government that will lead Nigeria toward its finest destiny,” he stressed.

Describing elections as the cornerstone of representative governance, the president also noted that voting constituted the highest and best expression of the sovereign will of the people to choose the government that would best represent them.

He said, “It is only upon the freely expressed will of the people that government truly dedicated to the welfare, rights and interests of the people can be founded.”

Buhari who is also in the race as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) counseled the voters not to allow anyone to discourage them from exercising their rights as citizens.

“To vote means that you believe in Nigeria and the excellent things the future holds for this nation and its people.

“No matter our political leanings, we all believe in Nigeria, in the noble principles for which it stands and in the values we strive for our beloved nation to uphold.

“All who are able, must vote so that we may better perfect this democracy and continue to build the greater nation we seek.”

Buhari said there was no greater duty or honour than participating in an election, adding that it “is an encounter with history in which you, the people, shall affirm your collective belief in our national greatness and in our future.”

While allaying the fears of violence and insecurity, he assured that the security agencies had worked diligently to ensure that adequate security measures were in place.

“You will be able to vote in an atmosphere of openness and peace, devoid of fear from threat or intimidation,” the president further assured.

Buhari commended all for their patience and peaceful conduct so far in the election season and especially after the postponement of February 16.

“Many were worried and thought the worst might happen. You proved them wrong by showing that you are a great people with an abiding love for peace, democracy and the unity of our country.”

He said INEC had affirmed its readiness to conduct the free, fair and transparent election, while expressing the belief that the electoral body realized “the profound and weighty duty that rests upon it.”

He, however, urged Nigerians to have faith that INEC would rise to the occasion.

“We must believe and encourage INEC to fulfill and honour this responsibility it owes to our country.”

The president also assured domestic and international monitors and observers of their safety and freedom of movement, while thanking the former for their contributions to democracy and the latter for the friendship and concern demonstrated to Nigeria.