TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has told UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that there is no possibility of him seeking a third term in office.

The president spoke on Thursday during a bilateral meeting with Johnson on the sideline of the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, the British prime minister had asked if Buhari would run for office again, and he responded by saying: “Another term for me? No! The first person who tried it didn’t end very well.”

The president also denied that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), was not being allowed to see his lawyers.

He said the separatist activist is provided with every opportunity under the law “to justify all the uncomplimentary things he had been saying against Nigeria in Britain”.

“He felt very safe in Britain and said awful things against Nigeria. We eventually got him when he stepped out of the United Kingdom, and we sent him to court,” Buhari said.

“Let him defend all that he has said there. His lawyers have access to him. Remember he jumped bail before, how are we sure he won’t do it again if he’s admitted to bail?”

Speaking on the Boko Haram insurgency, Buhari said serious efforts are underway to educate the people on the fact that only an “unserious person” could kill innocent people and ascribe it to God.

“And the education process is working, the people now understand Boko Haram as anti-God, and not about religion,” he said.

In his remarks, Johnson expressed delight in the trade relations between both countries, adding that the UK was further reducing tariffs on some goods going to Nigeria.

“I just want to be sure that we are doing enough. It’s a massive partnership for us, and we need to capitalise on it,” he said.