Buhari stated this at the book launch titled “Working with Buhari,” and “Muhammadu Buhari: The Nigerian Legacy – 2015 – 2023 (Vols 1-5)” which focused on his eight years in office.

The book was written by his former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

The book “Working with Buhari” was written by a former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari, Femi Adesina, and reviewed by Shola Oshunkeye, a former CNN Journalist of the Year.

According to Adesina, who spoke in Osogbo on Wednesday, such is normal for any human being.

The ex-presidential spokesman was a guest at a programme tagged ‘Media Dialogue with Femi Adesina’ organised by the Association of Veteran Journalists in Osun State.

He said before Buhari left office, he had a two-hour chat with him, during which he asked all manner of questions. There is no living human being that will not regret certain things. It is one of the questions I asked the President.

Before we left office, I sat with him for about two hours and I asked him every question under the sun; there was no question I didn’t ask him. There were things he (Buhari) felt could have been done better,” Adesina said.

He, however, defended Buhari’s controversial naira redesign policy, saying it was for the good of the nation.

You will recall that even during that time, there was no kidnapping. I remember some people went to kidnap an APC chairman or is it secretary in Kano. After holding him for three days and nobody was calling to ask how much they will collect because there was no cash, they just slapped him three times and told him to go.

“Even kidnappers were out of business because there was no naira and do you know that we have a cleaner election because of that policy?

“Nine serving governors couldn’t go to the Senate. They contested but lost. Have you ever seen a governor who will contest an election and will not win? But because there was no money to spread around, they couldn’t win. The policy was not bad in its entirety. There were issues with it but it was not bad in its entirety,” he said.

In his Sallah message conveyed through a statement by his spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari extended his greetings to Muslims, wishing them a joyful Eid and a safe return for those embarking on the Hajj pilgrimage.

Within his message, the former President encouraged Nigerians to offer their unwavering support to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, emphasizing that leading Nigeria requires immense dedication and sacrifices.

Buhari expressed his belief that a successful tenure necessitates the collaborative efforts and endorsement of the nation’s citizens.

Shehu argued that only a new administration with strong public support could attempt such a move, specifically mentioning President Bola Tinubu in this regard.

In a statement posted on his verified Twitter account on Monday, Shehu clarified that Buhari’s administration, in its final days, could not eliminate the controversial policy due to the upcoming elections and the need for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to secure victory.

Implementing the new Petroleum Industry Act, which could have resulted in the removal of subsidies, could have jeopardized the party’s position in office.

Shehu further emphasized that while Buhari did not remove petrol subsidy, his administration eliminated other budget-draining and detrimental subsidies throughout its tenure.

He highlighted the importance of the APC addressing questions about subsidy removal, but in their absence, he felt compelled to offer an explanation.

Shehu also acknowledged the current Tinubu/Shettima administration and its successful handling of subsidy removal and currency unification decisions.

He commended their timing and skill in avoiding any crisis arising from these actions.

According to Shehu, the decision to remove subsidies, including those for the Naira and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), was postponed and held back.

He argued that such a decision should not have been made during a period of heightened tensions in the country, as it could have exacerbated the situation.

Shehu suggested that only a new administration, backed by significant public goodwill, would be capable of attempting such a move, which he credited to the current Tinubu government.

Finally, Shehu highlighted the political reality of the Buhari administration’s final days, stating that it could not have fully pursued subsidy removal due to the impending elections. He claimed that any political party seeking re-election with a new leader would have faced similar constraints.

Polls reportedly indicated that the party would have lost the election if they had implemented the subsidy removal as outlined in the new Petroleum Industry Act.

This was as the government said the refurbishment of offices for the President and Vice-President elect had been completed.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Transition Committee, Boss Mustapha, stressed that litigation would not stop the hand-over ceremony from taking place.

He said, “The committee has been active and the refurbishment of offices for the President and Vice-President elect has been completed.

The facility at the Defence House is ready. Security personnel of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force have also been deployed to the President and Vice-President elect.

“Protocol officers have also been assigned to both the President-elect and Vice-President-elect from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Agency. The transition process is on course and all efforts are being made to ensure that it is smooth. On May 29, there would be a peaceful formal transfer of power to the new President.”

Mustapha noted that the security sub-committee had been saddled with the responsibility to ensure no one truncates the hand-over.

He said, “All litigation, whether resolved or not, will not in any way stop the process.  The President is not spending a day extra in office.  The security committee has the responsibility to ensure that nothing happens to truncate the transition process. Nigerians are very law-abiding people.

“Whoever has lost an election, there are provided avenues for those people to make whatever legal inquiry they want to make but the process would continue unabated.  We would not create another constitutional crisis. On May 29, the hand-over will take place.”

As part of the transition, Mustapha also said four members of the President-elect’s team would be joining the FG delegation to the Spring meeting of the World Bank.

He, however,  revealed that the president-elect has nominated,  Wale Edun and the governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu to be part of the transition committee.

ThisDay and Arise TV reported that she said this at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Armed Forces Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre (AFPTSDC) initiated by the Mrs Lucky Irabor-led Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA).

Aisha said her husband suffered PTSD for many years after his involvement in Nigeria’s civil war without rehabilitation, his overthrow as military head of state, and subsequent detention for 40 months without being charged with any offence.

The First Lady added that Buhari’s loss of three consecutive elections further complicated the situation she was confronted with at 19, when she married him. She further revealed that she became an unintended physiotherapist who nursed him to recovery.

She said; “I want to thank DEPOWA for this foresighted vision of establishing a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Centre for our soldiers. Indeed, PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by terrifying events.It is a reality that soldiers and military families have to live with, despite its negative consequences. Being a soldier’s wife or a retired soldier’s wife and a wellness expert, I understand the challenges associated with PTSD and its impact on military families and the nation.

“My husband served the Nigerian Army for 27 years before he was overthrown in a coup d’état. He fought civil war for 30 months without rehabilitation; he ruled Nigeria for 20 months and was detained for 40 months without disclosing the nature of his offence.

“One year after he came out from detention, we were married, I clocked 19 years in his house as his wife, legitimately. I suffered the consequences of PTSD, because having gone through all these, and at the age of 19, to handle somebody, who was a former Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s Armed Forces, to tell him that he is wrong is the first mistake you will make.

“So, at the age of 19, I had to figure out how to tell somebody of his calibre that he was wrong or right and that was the beginning of my offence in his house, and contesting elections in 2003 and failed, 2007, failed and 2011, the same thing – all without rehabilitation – I became a physiotherapist.

“Finally, the whole nation rose against the misuse of power and bad governance. He only succeeded when it became a movement and here we are today. He ruled Nigeria before and he is ruling Nigeria now and this is the last time and final.

“Failing election for three times was a big blow to every contestant but those that have contested for just yesterday, a simple primary election, they are still living in a traumatic condition, I tried to console them, I tried to talk to them, some of them have switched off their phones up till today, just because of a primary election.

“You can imagine myself at 19 years, handling somebody that went to war, suffered coup d’état, then lost several elections, and, finally, getting to the Villa in the 2015. Also, for a woman to tell them that this is wrong or right in Nigeria and Africa is a problem.”

Aisha Buhari also commended members of the armed forces for their contributions to nation. She added;

“In that case, I want to use this opportunity to appreciate members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria for their sacrifices and contributions to nation building.

“The fallen Heroes remain evergreen in our minds and many with us are wounded physically and mentally. I want to appreciate their wives and families; I want to let them know that the whole nation is with them.”

Aisha stated that the PTSD centre was important to members of the armed forces and beyond, stressing that soldiers are the primary victims.

A top Presidency source, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak to journalists on the matter, told our correspondent on Sunday that the lawmakers are scheduled to present to Buhari their recommendations from meetings they had with stakeholders on the strike.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, said the House will prepare the report of the House’s intervention in the ongoing strike and meet the President on the matter.

Speaking at the last meeting of the House Leadership with stakeholders comprising members of ASUU and representatives of the Federal Government, the lawmaker said the report will reflect their interactions on the FG-ASUU face-off and provide recommendations to enable the President to assess the situation from an informed second option.

Gbajabiamila, however, did not disclose when his team will meet the President.

“We will put together our recommendations and our thoughts and take it to Mr President, that is why we are here to interface and look for solutions,” he had said.

However, the Presidency source, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said, “The leaders of the House of Representatives are scheduled to see the President in the coming week. They are on the programme. The President will receive them at 3pm on Tuesday.”

Below is the full speech of the Nigerian president.

Mr. President,

On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, I congratulate you on your well-deserved election as President of UNGA77. I assure you of the full support and cooperation of the Nigerian delegation during your tenure.

I commend your predecessor, His Excellency Abdullah Shahid, for the many remarkable achievements of the General Assembly under his leadership during these challenging times.

May I also congratulate the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres on his ceaseless and untiring efforts to promote peace, security and development, very much in line with his exalted role.

Mr. President, The first time I could have addressed this August Assembly was in 1984, when I was the Military Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thirty-one years later, I had the great privilege to personally address the Assembly in 2015,as the democratically-elected President of my country. As I approach the end of my second and final four-year term, I am reminded of how much has changed in Nigeria, in Africa, and in the world, and yet, how some challenges remain.

We are now more severely tested by these enduring and new global challenges, paramount among which are conflicts increasingly being driven by non-state actors, proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, terrorism, violent extremism, malignant use of technology, climate change, irregular migration, and disparities in opportunities for improved standards of living.

Despite the challenging international environment, the United Nations has proved that it can be strong when the will of its members is harnessed for positive collective action.

The guiding principle of this extraordinary institution is the promotion of peace and security, development and human rights.

Latest in a chain of events challenging these principles is the Ukraine conflict which has already created strains that are perhaps unprecedented for a generation.

Such a conflict will have adverse consequences for us all, hindering our capacity to work together to resolve conflicts elsewhere, especially in Africa, the Middle-East and Asia. Indeed, the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle the perennial issues that feature each year in the deliberations of this Assembly, such as nuclear disarmament, the right of the Rohingya refugees to return to their homes in Myanmar, and the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for statehood and reduction of inequalities within and amongst nations.

The danger of escalation of the war in Ukraine further justifies Nigeria’s resolute calls for a nuclear-free world and a universal Arms Trade Treaty, which are also necessary measures to prevent global human disasters.

In this regards we must find quick means to reach consensus on the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty with related commitments by nuclear weapon states.

I remain firmly convinced that the challenges that have come so sharply into focus in recent years and months emphasize the call by Nigeria and many other Member-States for the reform of the Security Council and other United Nations Agencies.

We need more effective and representative structures to meet today’s demands that have since outgrown a system designed for the very different world that prevailed at its foundation in 1945. Change is long overdue.

Mr. President, This is the first meeting we are having here in New York without the restrictions that characterised the last three years. The COVID-19 pandemic ripped across National borders like a toxic whirlwind, leaving in its wake a legacy of pain and loss.

Happily, we also witnessed an incredible level of innovation and creativity from those who devised treatments and vaccines. These laudable achievements were underpinned by partnerships and international cooperation.

We have also seen the bravery, care and endurance of health professionals at every corner of the globe.

I am happy to note that in Nigeria, our healthcare agencies were able to form effective local management and engaged international partnerships with multinational initiatives like COVAX and private groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

These efforts helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic and we were mercifully spared the images of overwhelmed hospitals, overworked healthcare personnel and high mortality which sadly we saw elsewhere.

With COVID19, we saw very clearly how states tried to meet the challenge of a threat that could not be contained within national borders.

The results were mixed; but at its best, cooperation among stakeholders was outstanding. It facilitated solutions that saved countless lives and eased the huge burden of human suffering.

That same theme of unilateralism and the promotion of national interest competing with the common cause in the face of an existential threat has been our recurring experience in recent times.

In every address I have delivered to this august Assembly, I have dwelt on the issue of climate change, especially as it fuels conflicts and complicates food security.

Climate change reduces opportunity and prosperity which, in Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia, also contributes to transnational organized crimes.

As part of Nigeria’s efforts at achieving our Global Net-zero aspiration, the current Administration last year adopted a National Climate Change Strategy that aims to deliver climate change mitigation in a sustainable manner.

The measures we took at the national level also require climate justice. Africa and other developing nations produce only a small proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to industrial economies.

Yet, we are the hardest hit by the consequences of climate change as we see in the sustained droughts in Somalia and floods of unprecedented severity in Pakistan.

These and other climate-related occurrences are now sadly becoming widely commonplace in the developing world. We are, in effect, literally paying the price for policies that others pursue. This needs to change.

At the COP26 in Glasgow last year, I did say that Nigeria was not asking for permission to make the same mistakes that others have made in creating the climate emergency.

Fortunately, we now know what we can do to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and the related energy challenge. As a first step, we must all commit to releasing the financing and the technology to create a stable and affordable framework for energy transition.

Development Finance Institutions must prioritise de-risking energy projects to improve access of renewable projects to credit facilities. There should be no countries “left behind” in this equation.

Rocketing energy costs worldwide are, in part, the product of conflict and supply disruptions to Europe and the Americas. Yet, we are all paying the price. It is, therefore, our expectation that this UNGA 77 & the upcoming COP 27 will help galvanise the political will required to drive action towards the fulfilment of the various existing climate change initiatives.

Another feature of the last decade has been the growing partnership between states and the increasingly influential non-state actors.

There was a time when the most important event at this Assembly was the speech by the world’s most powerful leaders. Now a Tweet or Instagram post by an influencer on social or environmental issues may have greater impact.

Technology offers us nearly limitless opportunities and sometimes runs ahead of the imagination of regulators and legislators. At its best, social media helps strengthen the foundations of our society and our common values.

At its worst, it is a corrosive digital version of the mob, bristling with intolerance and division.

When I began my tenure as President in 2015, distinctions were drawn between the experience of poorer countries and those apparently better able to manage the avalanche of unfiltered information.

Nigeria has had many unsavoury experiences with hate speech and divisive disinformation. Increasingly, we also see that many countries face the same challenge. Clearly, data also know no borders.

In confronting these challenges, we must also come together to defend freedom of speech, while upholding other values that we cherish.

We must continue to work for a common standard that balances rights with responsibilities to keep the most vulnerable from harm and help strengthen and enrich communities.

Efforts to protect communities from the scourge of disinformation and misinformation must also be matched with efforts to reduce inequalities and restore hope to our poorer and most vulnerable of our communities as a means to stem the many socio-economic conflict drivers with which we are faced.

In spite of our efforts, humanitarian crises will continue to ravage some of our communities. Nigeria, therefore, implores our global partners to do more to complement our endeavours.

Indeed, the multifaceted challenges facing most developing countries have placed a debilitating chokehold on their fiscal space. This equally calls for the need to address the burden of unsustainable external debt by a global commitment to the expansion and extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to countries facing fiscal and liquidity challenges as well as outright cancellation for countries facing the most severe challenges.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Democracy is an idea that crosses time and borders. Certainly, democracy does have its limitations. The wheels of democracy turn slowly. It can demand compromises that dilute decisions.

Sometimes, it bends too much to special interests that exercise influence, not always for the general good, in a manner disproportionate to their numbers.

But it has been my experience that a democratic culture provides a Government with the legitimacy it needs to deliver positive change.

In Nigeria, not only have we worked to strengthen our democracy, but we have supported it and promoted the Rule of Law in our sub-region.

In The Gambia, we helped guarantee the first democratic transition since independence. In Guinea-Bissau we stood by the democratically-elected Government when it faced mutiny.

And in the Republic of Chad, following the tragic death of its President, the late Idris Deby Itno in the battlefield, we joined forces with its other neighbours & Int’l partners to stabilize the country & encourage the peaceful transition to democracy, a process which is ongoing.

We believe in the sanctity of constitutional term limits and we have steadfastly adhered to it in Nigeria. We have seen the corrosive impact on values when leaders elsewhere seek to change the rules to stay on in power.

Indeed, we now are preparing for general elections in Nigeria next February. At the 78th UNGA, there will be a new face at this podium speaking for Nigeria.

Ours is a vast country strengthened by its diversity and its common values of hard work, enduring faith and a sense of community. We have invested heavily to strengthen our framework for free and fair elections.

I thank our partners for all the support that they have provided our election institutions.

As President, I have set the goal that one of the enduring legacies I would like to leave is to entrench a process of free, fair and transparent and credible elections through which Nigerians elect leaders of their choice.

Mr. President, The multiple challenges that face us are truly  interconnected and urgent, and your choice of this Session’s theme, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges” is apt.

In keeping with our obligations as Member States of this noble Organisation, we all must do our utmost to work with you toward resolving them. In this regard, I reiterate my Delegation’s full and resolute cooperation.

Let me convey my final reflection from this famous podium. We live in extraordinary times with interdependent challenges but enormous opportunities. The pace of change can seem bewildering, with sometimes a palpable and unsettling sense of uncertainty about our future.

But if my years in public service have taught me anything, it is that we must keep faith with those values that endure. These include, but are not limited to, such values as justice, honour, integrity, ceaseless endeavour, and partnership within and between nations.

Our strongest moments have always been when we remain true to the basic principles of tolerance, community, and abiding commitment to peace and goodwill towards all. I thank you all.

NBC had on Friday stated that licenses of the debtor stations had been revoked and they had within 24 hours to shut down operations but that has now been extended till Wednesday.

But SERAP, in a letter dated 20 August 2022 and signed by the deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, called for the withdrawal of the revocation order.

The group urged Buhari to “urgently instruct Mr Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, and the National Broadcasting Commission to urgently withdraw the threat to revoke the licenses and shut down the operations of 53 broadcast stations in the country over alleged failure to renew their licenses.”

The organisation said, “The threat to shut down 53 broadcast stations is neither necessary nor proportionate. If carried out, it would offend the legal principles of equity and equality of access to mass communication.

Under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international human rights law, freedom and diversity must be guiding principles in the regulation and licensing of broadcasting. The threat to shut down 53 broadcast stations is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with these principles.

“Revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and shutting down their operations because they have not renewed their licenses would undermine the rights of millions of Nigerians to express their thoughts.”

The letter read in part, “With just months to go before the general elections, scheduled for February 2023, your government ought to do more to create conditions for a free and fair vote. This includes demonstrated commitment to freedom of expression.

“Shutting down 53 broadcast stations on the pretext of non-renewal of their licenses is neither necessary in a democratic society nor proportionate to meet the constitutional and international guarantees of freedom of expression.”