President Muhammadu Buhari has a candidate whom he prefers to succeed him in 2023 when he exhausts his maximum two terms of four years each allowed by the Nigerian Constitution.

“However, President Muhammadu Buhari is not willing to reveal the identity of his anointed candidate for the safety of such a person,” according to a Channels Television report last night, Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

While responding to a question about who his preferred candidate was during an exclusive interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, the President said: “It is (a) secret.”

“No, I wouldn’t say because he may be eliminated if I mention. I better keep it,” the President stated with a smile.

When asked if he was interested in who eventually succeeds him, he responded, “No. Let him come, whoever it is.

“All important things, I’ll make sure that they are on record. Nobody should ask me to come and give any evidence in any court, otherwise whoever it is, he will be in trouble because all important things are on record.

“I think my legacy is that I try to make sure that we conduct ourselves with integrity. That means we stopped all the stealing as much as the system can allow; we stopped misappropriation and for Nigerians that is very important.”

Buhari stated his readiness to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, if the National Assembly would include the options of consensus candidate and indirect primary to the mode of selecting a candidate for an election, as against the initial direct mode as the only option to conduct primaries by political parties.

“There should be options, you can’t dictate to people and say you are doing democracy. Give them other options so they can make a choice,” he said. (Adapted from a Channels TV report)