Buhari, 29 Governors, Take Oath Of Office Today

History will repeat itself today as President Muhammadu Buhari takes the constitutional oaths of office and allegiance for a second term in office.

In 2015, President Buhari bounced back to reckoning from the ashes of serial electoral losses when he defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to begin his first four-year term in office.

Buhari repeated the electoral feat on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (AP) last February 23, 2019 poll when he defeated his archrival and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to secure his ticket for a second term in office.

At the states, 29 new governors will also be sworn in their respective state capitals. However, there will be no inauguration ceremonies in seven states of the federation because the tenures of their governors are yet to be over. The states are Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo and Osun.

The swearing-in of Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be conducted by the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Mohammed at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the same venue they were sworn in on May 29, 2015.

Unlike 2015 when the inauguration was elaborate, this year’s edition will be low-key as the federal government has shifted the series of events lined for ceremony to June 12, the new official National Democracy Day.

Among the activities lined up for the event which begins at 8:00 am are a guard of honour parade and an address by the president. The swearing-in will be witnessed by top government officials, service chiefs, members of the diplomatic corps, former presidents/heads of state and the leadership of the National Assembly.

This will be followed later in the day by a State Banquet at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa at 7:00 pm.

Among the 29 governors who will take the oath of office today are those re-elected and new entrants mainly from the PDP and APC. The re-elected governors are Abdullahi Ganduje (APC, Kano), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai (APC, Kaduna), Aminu Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto), Darius Ishaku (PDP, Taraba), Aminu Bello Masari (APC, Katsina), Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP, Abia), Udom Emmanuel (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Ben Ayade (PDP, Cross River), Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP, Delta), Dave Umahi (PDP, Ebonyi), Abubakar Bello (APC, Niger), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (PDP, Enugu), Muhammad Badaru (APC, Jigawa),Atiku Bagudu (APC, Kebbi), and Nyesom Wike (PDP, Rivers).

The new governors are Babagana Zulum (APC, Borno), Inuwa Yahaya (APC, Gombe), Ihedioha Emeka (PDP, Imo), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (APC, Kwara), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (APC, Lagos), Abdullahi Sule (APC, Nasarawa), Dapo Abiodun (APC, Ogun), Seyi Makinde (PDP, Oyo), Mai Mala Buni (APC, Yobe), and  Mohammed Mattawale (PDP, Zamfara).