President Muhammadu Buhari has said overconfidence made opposition parties get defeated in the 2023 presidential election.
According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari stated this when members of the Progressives Governors’ Forum visited him at the State House, Abuja on Thursday.
The president however commended the All Progressives Congress (APC) for working hard to retain power at the centre by winning the election.
His words:
“They (the opposition) were already telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC. Our party blended confidence with caution, we worked hard and won. Now, their overconfidence is creating more problems for the opposition than anyone else. They are finding it hard to convince those who supported them from the outside why they are unable to beat us.
“A combination of overconfidence, complacency, and bad tactical moves made them lose, plain and clear. This has created more problems in their camp. Why did they fail to remove us?”
Buhari further charged the governors to stick together and openly address issues among themselves.
“Try and keep solving problems. Be courageous to discuss them openly between yourselves. This is the best way to survive politically in Nigeria,” he added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1 declared the APC candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of the February 25 election after he defeated the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and 16 others in the exercise.
The APC also secured the majority seats in the National Assembly and won in 16 out of the 28 states where the governorship election took place.
