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| President Muhammadu buhari |
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday says he is eager to handover power to his successor in 2023 and return to his farm to take care of his livestock in Daura.
The President disclosed this on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey, where he is to participate in the Third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit, hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Turkey.
According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari cut his 79th birthday cake moulded in national colours, green-white-green, to start the day, before going on to chair a planning meeting with officials in his delegation.
He, thereafter, went to the Dolmabahce Palace for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Erdogan.
The President was quoted as saying, “I thought that being away from Abuja, I would escape these things. The Guards Brigade had written to tell me what they wanted to do on this day. Now here you are doing this far away from home.
“I look forward to the year 2023 when I will finish, to go home to take charge of my farm. Between now and that time, I will do the best that is possible to advance the interest of the nation and its people, and carry out my duties as prescribed by the Constitution.”
Garba Shehu noted that as “he stepped out of his suite moving to the meeting room, President Buhari met a surprise lineup of the Nigerian delegation with a cake decorated in Nigeria’s national colours”.
“The group broke into a chorus, as they began chanting ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President,’” he added.