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He made the comments during an interview with journalists Benin City, Edo State. Excerpts, according to The Nation, below:
Many Nigerians have criticized you for saying you will beg President Buhari to seek re-election in the 2019 general election. Given his state of health, don’t you think it is best to advise the president to rest so as to attend to his health?
This is a free country. I have my views and I have expressed them. Why do I say so? I said so because the main gift President Buhari is giving to this country is what he represents and that is his absolute integrity. What Nigerians should aspire to be, the kind of country that we want Nigeria to be. a country where a man’s yes is his yes.
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A country with leadership that treats with respect public resources, a nation that is disciplined; a nation that is not wallowing in indecent corruption that we have today that is making one ashamed, that is what Buhari represents. He is like a General leading a charge against the major ills of this country.
The job is so enormous that one term cannot do it. The job is so enormous that two terms cannot do it. Even after President Buhari’s tenure, we still need people like him to continue in office. So, my prayer is that God gives him robust good health and once he enjoys that, of course as an individual, I will work that he comes back for another term.
But those things are in the hands of God because we are not God and we cannot play God. I am only saying that because of the enormity of the task that we are facing. When we talk of change, a lot of people talk about physical change. The main one is the change in the mentality and ethics of Nigerians, especially the attitude of Nigerians to right and wrong. So, the task is enormous and we need continuity in principled leadership which President Buhari represents.
Do you think the APC still enjoys the support it got from Nigerians in the 2015 general elections?
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Every election that we have held so far has indicated that. We know that things are hard at the moment but we are grateful to God that people do understand how that came about and they are giving us all the opportunity to come out of it, and which President Buhari is determined to do. We are beginning to see an upward swing and there is no looking back.
![FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde [penangle]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde [penangle]")