Buhari to Close Companions: 'I don't See Myself Handing Over To 'President-elect' Tinubu'

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly informed close allies that he does not want to give over power to President-elect Bola Tinubu.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proclaimed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, the victor of the presidential election on March 1.

As per official INEC results, Tinubu, 70, won in 12 of Nigeria's 36 states and received a significant number of votes in several states, defeating main challengers Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who finished second and third, respectively.

According to INEC official figures, Tinubu received 8,794,726 million votes, while the 76-year-old former Vice President, who has already stood for president six times, received 6,984,520 votes, and Obi, who electrified youthful voters in an unprecedented way in less than a year, received 6,101,533.

Tinubu and President Buhari are both members of the same political party.

According to insiders, the President assured several of his close allies that he does not want to hand over power to the former governor of Lagos.

"President Buhari may be ready to deal with Tinubu now, he has told his close aides and associates that he doesn’t see himself handing over to him on May 29," one insider said.

"He did not disclose why the thought so. Could it be that he is afraid of handing over power to him? We can’t say but his close associates are already aware of this."

Tinubu and Buhari's relationship was the topic of conjecture before to the APC primary election in 2022, as well as the presidential election on February 25, 2023.

Buhari revealed his ballot paper to the public after voting in the presidential election to verify that he voted for Tinubu.

With the introduction of new notes, a Central Bank of Nigeria policy, with the express authorization of Buhari, prohibited the use of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. This removed cash from the system following reports that certain politicians had amassed large sums of money in order to purchase votes.