A Nonagenarian and the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, David Edebiri, has described the February 23 presidential and National Assembly (NASS) election as the freest in the country since 1951 when he started voting as an adult.
The Benin chief stated this when he addressed journalists in Benin on Wednesday.

He also called on Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to congratulate Mr Buhari and extend a hand of fellowship, just as he advised Mr Buhari to be magnanimous in victory and continue his anti-corruption fight.

“My reaction is one of great concern for some Nigerians, who tried, by all means, to scuttle this development, using the judiciary, using every means to scuttle the programme.

“If they had succeeded, then we would have returned to ”Egypt” where God delivered us from.

“I voted in the election. I started voting since in December 1951 and that is exactly 68 years ago.

“Since I started voting in 1951, till date, I have not failed to vote in any election, including that which was conducted by Babangida on June 12, 1993.

“There was none of these elections that has been as free as the one we held on February 23. I say that from my own personal knowledge, this is not history that you read from books, this is something in which I participated.

“There was none of these elections that was as transparent, free and fair as the one we have just held, so to that extent, Muhammadu Buhari should be praised.

“He promised the world that there would be no interference in the electoral process and that is exactly what has happened, he told Nigerians that he will continue to fight corruption and all corruptive tendencies and that is what he has done,” he stated.

Mr Edebiri said Mr Buhari’s coming in 2015 saved Nigeria from total collapse.

“I want to assure you that but for the coming of Buhari in 2015, many of us here now would have been looking for where to seek exile, this country would have gone haywire but people did not seem to realise that.

“Because the man is fighting corruption head-long, all the people who are involved in some scandal, exploitation of our people, stealing of our money, ganged up to prevent this day from coming.

“Today, we are grateful to God almighty that we all lived to see it and I want to assure you that the second coming of Buhari will take Nigeria to a higher level both in economy and in defence as he has said.

“We also found that Nigeria has gotten respect from all parts of the world because of Buhari, this is a fact that no one can deny.

Mr Esogban said because of Mr Buhari’s anti-corruption stand, he commands global respect for Nigeria.

He further stated that throughout his campaign, it was only the president, who talked about fighting corruption. (NAN)