President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigerians should vote whoever they like from whichever political party during the 2023 general elections.

He said nobody would be allowed to mobilise resources and thugs to intimidate people in any constituency. 

He spoke in London Wednesday evening after meeting with King Charles III at the Buckingham Palace.

“My aim is to make sure that Nigerians believe that we respect them as an administration.

“That’s what I want to go down in Nigerian history for as a leader,” the president said.

Buhari expressed confidence that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would win the election. 

According to Buhari, APC is lucky to have Tinubu as its presidential candidate. When asked the chances of the APC in the 2023 elections, Buhari said: We’re going to win the election.

“Tinubu, the presidential candidate, a very well-known politician in the country, he was a two-term governor in Lagos State, the most resourceful state and the most visited state. So, I think the party was lucky to get him to be the candidate,” he said.

The president said his meeting with King Charles focused on strengthening bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom.

Buhari said the British monarch was very interested in Nigeria “maybe because of Nigeria’s relationship with Britain for long, our economic strength, I think we’re still of great attachment to them.”

Buhari said he told King Charles that he did not have a house in the UK.

“He (King Charles III) asked me whether I have a house here (in the UK), I said no, I live in Nigeria alone, the only house I have are those I have before I got into government and I’m not very much interested in having houses all over the place. I feel much freer when I have nothing.”

•Text, except headline, courtesy: Daily Trust newspaper