The Presidency, on Monday, said that the incumbent would not impose his successor on Nigerians but would rather allow the people of the country to determine who succeeds him in 2023 through the ballot box.

It stated that President Buhari would not impose his successor on the country, but would rather allow a democratic process to be followed through in electing the next President.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina, who spoke on a live interview on Channels Television on Monday, was responding to the call made by the Serving Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, urging President Buhati to set in motion a succession plan ahead of 2023.

Pastor Bakare had in a State of the Nation address, on Sunday, urged President Buhari not to allow those he described as “looters” to take over the reins of power in 2023, adding that doing so would mean that the anti-corruption war of the current regime would have been in vain.

Pastor Bakare, a former running mate to President Buhari when he contested the presidential poll in 2011 on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, said there were other leaders across Asia and Africa, who had a succession plan.

But the Presidency noted that much as President Buhari would love to sustain his legacies after exiting office in 2023, he would not interfere with the democratic process by insisting on a particular individual to succeed him.

According to Adesina, “The President will not pick a successor; we know him, he is not somebody like that. 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 a free, fair and credible process but to hand-pick a successor? No, he will not do that.”

Adesina added that President Buhari held his achievements dearly to his heart and would have ordinarily not allowed a system that would erase them succeed him, but clarified that the decision on his successor was not Buhari’s to take.

“The President will ensure that Nigeria is in safe hands. There is no point having worked, having made gains, having made advancement 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,” he stated.

Recall that Buhari, in his New Year letter to Nigerians on January 1, had also said that he would stand down in 2023.

Incidentally, Pastor Bakare’s call came about a week after he made a visit to the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, for a 40-minute meeting.

The details of the closed-door meeting were unknown and he declined to speak with State House correspondents after the session with Buhari.

Last September, Bakare had announced to his congregation that he would be Nigeria’s next President in 2023, describing himself as one born to be President.

The fiery pastor had said, “Take it to the mountain top if you have never heard it before. I am saying it to you this morning, in the scheme of things, as far as politics of Nigeria is concerned, President Buhari is number 15 and yours sincerely is number 16. I never said that to you before; I want to let you know it this morning; nothing can change it, in the name of Jesus. He (Buhari) is number 15; I am number 16