2023: Buhari won’t handpick his successor, Adesina replies Bakare

President Muhammadu Buhari will not handpick his successor after the expiration of his tenure in 2023.

Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this on Monday while featuring on a Channels Television programme.

Talks of the president contesting another election in 2023 have been making headlines in the recent times, though Buhari has consistently dismissed such speculations.

He had also maintained he would not be tempted to picking his successor, stating such should come through a transparent process.

Recently however, Senior Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, in a statement urged the president to appoint his successor, so as to sustain his legacy after exiting office.

But reacting to Bakare’s statement on Monday, Adesina stated his principal will not select his successor in 2023.

He said: “By May 2023 God willing he would have finished his second term as president, he would not have stood for another term and he will be exiting. So, he has that at the back of his mind.

“Pastor Bakare said he should be interested in who succeeds him, yes I’m sure the president will be interested in who succeeds him but he will not manipulate the process, to pick a successor.

“The president will not pick a successor. We know him, he is not somebody like that. Will he be interested in the process? Yes, he will. He will ensure that there is a free, fair and credible election; that nobody will come to use money and resources to bamboozle his way into the leadership of the country. It will not happen. The president will ensure free, fair and credible process; but to handpick a successor? No, he will not do that.”