President Muhammadu Buhari has formally announced he will seek re-election in 2019.
Mr. Buhari made the announcement on Monday at a meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress leadership.
The National Executive Committee(NEC) meeting of the party is holding in Abuja.
Mr. Buhari made the declaration after the media had left the NEC hall of APC secretariat in Abuja.
The Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that “It is true that the president has announced his commitment to seek re election in 2019”.
While the president has long indicated he will seek a second term of four years, this is his first public announcement.
Mr. Buhari took office on May 29, 2015 after defeating then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election of that year.
One of his major backers in that election, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in January advised him to drop his reelection bid, saying his administration had been a monumental failure.
The Northern Elders Forum also expressed its reluctance to back Mr. Buhari in the coming election, saying he had so far failed to impress.
But the governors elected on the platform of the APC have repeatedly called on the President to run, with one of them, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, saying his state would sue should the president decline to seek reelection.
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