• Receives hand over notes, national conference report  • President leads Buhari on Villa tour, as he assumes office today • US think-tank identifies areas of priority
Jaiyeola Andrews, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Gboyega Akinsanmi 

The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, who will be sworn in today as Nigeria's elected president yesterday said the telephone call put across to him by President Goodluck Jonathan congratulating him even before the final result of the presidential election was announced, had changed the course of the nation's political history.

Buhari acknowledged that the incumbent president was capable of using the power of incumbency to make things difficult on the outcome of the presidential election at the expense of the lives of poor Nigerians, but that he chose to tow the path of selflessness.
The president-elect spoke when he received the hand over notes from Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
Buhari said: "Until I read and digest this notes from the president, I don’t think I will be in a position to make any strong contribution.
"But what I will say is that the telephone call you made (to me) changed the course of Nigeria’s political history. For that, you have earned yourself a place in our history, for stabilising this system of multi party democracy system and you have earned the respect of not only Nigerians but world leaders.
"All the leaders that spoke to me and congratulated us for arriving at the point we arrived, mentioned this and I could understand, a lot of relief in their voices that Nigeria has made it after all and this is largely owed to a situation you made possible.
"If you (Jonathan) had attempted to make things difficult, you could have made things difficult and that would have been at the expense of lives of poor Nigerians, but you chose the part of honour and may God help all of us. Thank you very much your excellency."
Before handing over the notes as well as the report of the national conference to Buhari, Jonathan said "this will give you (Buhari) a mission statement of the commitment of this government for the past five years and the directions we are going that will help you to navigate.
"So  it is my pleasure, on behalf of the vice president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries to formally hand over these hand over notes to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect who will assume office tomorrow (today). Congratulations.
"There is another document that I will hand over to you, to me this is more important than the hand over notes. The hand over notes is the activities of an administration. It shows where we started, where we are going, in some of the cases you'll follow, in other cases you may take other angle.
"But this is a document that was compiled by Nigerians, the report of the National Conference 2014. We gathered almost 500 Nigerians from other walks of life, they were not influenced by government in any way.
"And most of the recommendations here, if it is followed most of the gray areas even in our politics will be smoothened out. Most of the areas where people complain bitterly about corruption, everything, this document deals with them. Some people here were members of that great body of about 500 egg heads.
"We were unable to implement because of the shortness of time, we have sent a copy to the National Assembly but it is a document that we are very hopeful that your government will look into it and give it the attention it requires.
"It  is also my pleasure, on behalf of the vice president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries and especially the conference members that developed this report, the baby of the nation, to hand over this also to you."
Later, a statement issued  by Buhari's Campaign Spokesman, Garba Shehu said the handover notes detailed the activities of the outgoing administration adding that  President jonathan reviewed the activities of his administration in all areas of governance namely, the economy, security, foreign policy, corruption and oil and gas, among others.
According to President Jonathan, “as we handover the reins of government, I believe that our nation is secure, our democracy is stable and the future is bright”.
He however also spoke on the challenges his administration had been facing, occasioned by the violent activities of terrorists group, Boko Haram.
He acknowledged that the Boko Haram menace preceded his administration, but expressed hope that it would be eradicated.
Jonathan also noted that he was optimistic that the abducted Chibok schoolgirls would return safely.
Before presenting the hand over notes to Buhari, Jonathan had taken the president-elect on a guided tour of the villa.
Present at the event were the Vice President, Namadi Sambo and the Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council and members of the Transition Committees of the incoming and outgoing governments.
Earlier in the day, Buhari who arrived from London yesterday morning kept to his low- key style when he arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja shoving aside VIP reception formalities.
Not even the presence  of some   journalists on his arrival could make the President-elect change his mind to grant interviews.
Buhari had arrived the airport at about 6. 10 am yesterday morning aboard the British Airways flight and in company of a few personal aides.
On arrival, the President-elect who is expected to be sworn-in today drove out of the airport immediately and straight to the Presidential Villa.
Meanwhile, ahead of the inauguration today,a  United States think-tank, Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) yesterday outlined major issues, which it said, should be the first priority of President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle as he takes up the mantle of Nigeria’s leadership today.
The think-tank listed Boko Haram insurgency, corruption and inequality as the country’s key challenges, which its analysts and bloggers had exhaustively dissected and proffered policy initiatives that could help tackle the challenges.
The Associate Director of CFR Global Communications and Media Relations, Courtney Doggart pointed this out in a statement posted on the group’s website yesterday, giving insight into how to resolve Nigeria’s gravest challenges.
As contained in the statement, a blogger, Jason Warner argued that few people “have paid attention to the looming postwar reconstruction effort,” but an Africa analyst, Michael W. Baca said if poverty and communal tensions “go unaddressed, it will only be a matter of time until new violent non-state actors emerge.”
The statement added that taking on the north-south divide, oil politics, and Boko Haram’s ties “to other terrorist organizations, this online resource succinctly presents the origins, rise, and aims of Boko Haram, as well as Abuja’s response.”