President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) could have used security agencies to overrun opposition states in the 2019 general election if it wanted but chose to be impartial.
He said on Monday that the fact he did not militarize the election was why the opposition was able to defeat the ruling party in some states at the election.
Buhari was peaking at a meeting with northeast governors at the presidential villa, Abuja.
He said the government wanted to show Nigerians that it was humane and would continue to do its best.
The governors who were at the meeting also attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo include Zulum (Borno), Mai Bala Buni (Yobe), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Mohammed Yahaya (Gombe), and Darius Ishaku (Taraba).
The president, who was speaking on the insecurity in the northeast, remarked that given what his administration inherited in 2015, Nigerians know that it had done its best.
The President said: “Nigerians, we thank God, understood us and they voted for us. In 2019. We went around the whole country, saying the same thing and apologising for not doing better, but we are doing our best. I think Nigerians believe us and we did our best.
“It is true that we lost some states as a ruling party in a developing country, which is normal. I am proud of that because we are impartial. That is why as the ruling party, we lost some states. That means we have our own mistakes.
“Some of those that defeated us are sitting here. We know we are a developing country but we respect our country. Otherwise, with the use of Army, the police and the rest of them, we could have overrun you.
“We just wanted to show that we are humane and we are Nigerians. We will continue to do our best.”
President Buhari pointed out that government is faced by the problem of inadequate resources, reiterating his assertion that the military had not done enough to end the menace of insecurity in the country.
President added: “We have problems of resources and security. You know what we inherited. The people of the North East will appreciate what this administration has done.
“The general report I am getting, other from the conventional ones from the intelligence sources, is that the Army should do better and this is the truth.
“It is so often coming to me that I have to believe it. I listened to your representation, the governor who is on the hotspot now in the North East, Adamawa, Bauchi and the rest of them are enjoying peace. I hope they are respecting the sacrifice made by the military.
“I assure you that the government is doing its best. Lack of resources has hit us very hard. COVID-19 is a phenomenon. It has no respect for colour, you can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you can’t hear it. America and we are the same. It is a fantastic phenomenon. I think we should all go back to God.
“I assure you North-East governors, especially the governor of Borno, that we go to bed and wake up thinking about you and how to secure our country. That is the fundamental responsibility of a government; security, the president added
“In our party, we recognise this. We campaigned on three fundamental issues: security, economy and fighting corruption, President Buhari stated.
In attendance at the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; the Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu, and the Director-General, Department of State Services, DSS, Yusuf Bichi.
Also present were the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i; the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi and the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammad Dingyadi.
