Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says he did his best as the country’s leader for the entire eight years.
He went on to say that he would let the people decide whether his “best” was good enough.
Buhari also stated that Nigerians are difficult to manage because “they think they should be” on the saddle, rather than “you.”
The immediate past president spoke in his first interview with NTA since handing over the nation’s leadership to President Bola Tinubu in May.
Buhari said:
“God gave me the opportunity to serve my country, but I did my best. But whether my best was good enough, I leave for people to judge”.
“Nigerians are extremely difficult. People know their rights. They think they should be there, not you.
“So, they monitor virtually your every step. And you have to struggle day and night to ensure that you are competent enough.”
From the beginning of Buhari’s presidency, there were rumours of a cabal seizing power.
Then-First Lady Aisha Buhari added credence to the allegations in 2016 when she said, “You will know them (the hijackers) if you watch television.”
Buhari’s retort to his wife’s remarks reached Berlin, Germany’s capital city.
“I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room,” Buhari had said.
“So I claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition because in the end I have succeeded.”
When asked if he thought his government had been hijacked by a cabal during the NTA interview, Buhari said, “It must have been,” adding that he wasn’t sure anyone who broke the law was allowed to “walk away.”
Buhari defended the controversial naira redesign policy, which caused cash shortages before and during the general election, saying it was necessary to check those who had stashed ill-gotten gains.
He explained:
“Whether Nigerians believe it or not, we are a developing nation.” And in that kind of situation, there’s materialism, and they didn’t care how they made the money, sometimes ruthlessly”.
“I continue to believe that the only way I could deprive these people was to ensure that my integrity became unquestionable… I think as a developing country we still have a long way to go.
“The motivation (for the policy) was to try and make Nigerians believe that there is no shortcut to successful leadership.”
The former president also discussed how technology helped him win the presidential election in 2015 after previous failed attempts.
“Instead of sympathising with me, people laughed at me because I didn’t have money, because I couldn’t buy influence in any form, from influential people or others.” And I exclaimed, ‘God dey’. He also mailed the Permanent Voter Card (PVC). “This means you now have only one vote,” he explained.
Buhari also stated that he is not certain he accomplished everything he set out to accomplish as Nigeria’s president from 2015 to 2023, but that he does not miss being out of office.