President Buhari Unhappy Over ‘Some’ Loss In Election, Appreciates Democracy

President Muhammadu Buhari admitted that he is "unhappy" that some of his party candidates lost the general elections in Nigeria but he is glad that Nigerians are realizing their power.

Buhari, who spoke at the farewell meeting with the outgoing United States Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, said that he was satisfied with the choices Nigerians made during Presidential and Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, which were held on Feb. 25 and March 18, respectively.

"People are realizing their power. Given the chance of a free and fair vote, nobody can tell them what to do," Buhari said, Vanguard reported. "I am unhappy that some candidates lost in the election. But I am inspired by the fact that voters were able to make their own decision, to decide who won and who lost."

The president pointed out that there is no money in the market, hinting at demonetization in the country, to spread around but still he urged the voters to take the money but vote as per their own consciences.

Buhari further noted that he was completely satisfied with his position in the election process as he made no meddlesomeness or any form of interference.

The president also commended the Ambassador for her achievements in the country in the last three and a half years. Buhari praised the United States for holding itself together as a country for almost 300 years, noting that he also hope that Nigeria will do the same.

Talking about demonetization in the country, Nigeria's economy is going through a bad phase as the new currency redesign policy mopped up over 70% of the cash. It has caused an estimated loss of N20 trillion, as per the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) report.

CPPE's director Dr. Muda Yusuf stated earlier this month that "Nigerians have not been this traumatized in recent history" and urged the president to look into this currency crisis to save the economy.

Buhari broke his silence on the currency crisis last week and urged market operators to accept old N500 and N1,000 notes. The Supreme Court already ordered the same but several market operators refused to accept those notes.

Considering the elections, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party's Bola Tinubu was declared president-elect last month. However, this victory has been challenged by Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party's Peter Obi.

The recent governorship election polls revealed that APC won in 15 states including Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Gombe, Lagos, Kwara, Niger, Yobe, Nasarawa, C'River, Ebonyi, Ogun, Benue, Kaduna and Borno. PDP, on the other hand, won elections in six states including Plateau, Bauchi, Oyo, Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.