Again Buhari hints at second term bid, says Kano people already in my pocket

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday once again gave an indication that he would be seeking a second term of four years in the coming 2019 general elections.

Buhari, who is on a two-day visit to Kano said,

“I’m overwhelmed by the sea of heads I see, and by what I see today, if elections are contested, I have no doubt I will win it.

“I know the elections. If they are to be free and fair, if it is a question of numbers, if it is a question of allowing people to make their choice, then I think the people of Kano are in my pocket.”

He stated this at the palace of the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, apparently in response to the mammoth crowd that gathered to welcome him to the state.

Buhari was joined on Wednesday in his two-day visit by Governor Umar Ganduje as they opened and inaugurated a series of infrastructure projects.

Buhari had barely a week ago indicated to Nigerians in Abidjan, Ivory Coast capital, the possibility of him seeking re-election.

74-year-old Buhari emerged president in 2015 wining over 90 per cent of votes cast in Kano State, believed to be Nigeria’s most populous state. He achieved the same result in many northern states.

However, his administration’s perceived failures in realizing the expectations of his teaming supporters more than two years after assuming power, remain something of concern towards Buhari recording the kind of support he had across the country during the 2015 general elections.

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The failure of his government to totally defeat Boko Haram, convict any high profile corrupt persons, and the hardship Nigerians have gone through since his emergence are bothering issues that may affect Buhari should he eventually seek re-election.

While Nigeria’s next president is still expected to come from the north following an unwritten rule to have power rotated between the North and South regions of the country, for eight year stints, with the defection of former vice-president Atiku Abubakar to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other notable politicians from the North who may be vying for the presidency, the battle might not be an easy one.

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